1980 Date Location Event January United Kingdom (UK) Sinclair ZX80 was released for under £100. 22 May Japan The game Pac-Man was released. June United States (US) Commodore released the VIC-20, which had 3.5 KB of usable memory and was based on the MOS Technology 6502 processor. Magazines became available which contained the code for various utilities and games. A 5¼" disk drive was available, along with a cassette storage system which used standard audio cassette tapes. Also available were a number of games, a color plotter which printed on 6 in (152 mm) wide paper tape, and a graphics tablet (the KoalaPad). A TV screen served as the monitor. The VIC-20 became the first computer to sell 1 million units. July US Tandy released the TRS-80 Color Computer, based on the Motorola 6809E processor and using Microsoft BASIC as its programming language. It was the first Tandy computer to support color graphics, and also supported cartridge programs and games, attempting to bridge both the home computing and video gaming markets. October US Development of MS-DOS/PC DOS began. Microsoft (known mainly for their programming languages) were commissioned to write the operating system for the PC; Digital Research failed to get the contract (there is much legend as to the real reason for this). DR's operating system, CP/M-86, was later shipped, but it was actually easier to adapt programs to DOS rather than to CP/M-86, and CP/M-86 cost $495. As Microsoft did not have an operating system to sell, they bought Seattle Computer Product's 86-DOS which had been written by Tim Paterson earlier that year (86-DOS was also known as QDOS, Quick & Dirty Operating System; it was a more-or-less 16 bit version of CP/M). The rights were actually bought in July 1981. It is reputed that IBM found over 300 bugs in the code when they subjected the operating system to scrutiny and re-wrote much of the code. Tim Paterson's DOS 1.0 was 4000 lines of assembler. ? NetherlandsJapan Red Book on Audio CDs was introduced by Sony and Philips. This was the beginning of the compact disc; it was released in Japan and then in Europe and America a year later. Roland releases the drum machine TR-808 which would end up revolutionizing music of all genres in the 1980s to a more electronic/futuristic sound.
1980 Date Location Event January United Kingdom (UK) Sinclair ZX80 was released for under £100 22 May Japan The game Pac-Man was released June United States (US) Commodore released the VIC-20 which had 35 KB of usable memory and was based on the MOS Technology 6502 processor Magazines became available which contained the code for various utilities and games A 5¼" disk drive was available along with a cassette storage system which used standard audio cassette tapes Also available were a number of games a color plotter which printed on 6 in (152 mm) wide paper tape and a graphics tablet (the KoalaPad) A TV screen served as the monitor The VIC-20 became the first computer to sell 1 million units July US Tandy released the TRS-80 Color Computer based on the Motorola 6809E processor and using Microsoft BASIC as its programming language It was the first Tandy computer to support color graphics and also supported cartridge programs and games attempting to bridge both the home computing and video gaming markets October US Development of MS-DOS/PC DOS began Microsoft (known mainly for their programming languages) were commissioned to write the operating system for the PC; Digital Research failed to get the contract (there is much legend as to the real reason for this) DR's operating system CP/M-86 was later shipped but it was actually easier to adapt programs to DOS rather than to CP/M-86 and CP/M-86 cost $495 As Microsoft did not have an operating system to sell they bought Seattle Computer Product's 86-DOS which had been written by Tim Paterson earlier that year (86-DOS was also known as QDOS Quick & Dirty Operating System; it was a more-or-less 16 bit version of CP/M) The rights were actually bought in July 1981 It is reputed that IBM found over 300 bugs in the code when they subjected the operating system to scrutiny and re-wrote much of the code Tim Paterson's DOS 10 was 4000 lines of assembler  NetherlandsJapan Red Book on Audio CDs was introduced by Sony and Philips This was the beginning of the compact disc; it was released in Japan and then in Europe and America a year later Roland releases the drum machine TR-808 which would end up revolutionizing music of all genres in the 1980s to a more electronic/futuristic sound