IMSAI 8080
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| Manufacturer |
IMS Associates, Inc., later IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation |
|---|---|
| Type | Hobbyist computer, aluminum casing, 22-slot motherboard, S-100 bus |
| Release date | December 1975 |
| Discontinued | 1978 |
| Operating system | First commercial supplier of Digital Research's CP/M, later followed by derived IMDOS BASIC, FORTRAN |
| CPU | Intel 8080/8085A @ 2 MHz/3 MHz |
| Memory | 256/4K bytes on a 4K board (static), 16K, 32K, 64K DRAM |
| Storage | Optional cassette or 5 1⁄4" and 8" floppy drives, hard drives (CDC Hawk— 5 MB fixed, 5 MB removable) |
| Website | www |
The IMSAI 8080 was an early microcomputer released in late 1975, based on the Intel 8080 and later 8085 and S-100 bus. It was a clone of its main competitor, the earlier MITS Altair 8800. The IMSAI is largely regarded as the first "clone" microcomputer. The IMSAI machine ran a highly modified version of the CP/M operating system called IMDOS. It was developed, manufactured and sold by IMS Associates, Inc. (later renamed IMSAI Manufacturing Corp). In total, between 17,000 and 20,000 units were produced from 1975 to 1978.
In May 1972, William Millard started businesses individually as IMS Associates (IMS) in the areas of computer consulting and engineering, using his home as an office. By 1973, Millard founded IMS Associates, Inc. Millard soon found capital for his business, and received several contracts, all for software.
In 1974, IMS was contacted by a client which wanted a "workstation system" that could complete jobs for any General Motors new-car dealership. IMS planned a system including a terminal, small computer, printer, and special software. Five of these work stations were to have common access to a hard disk drive, which would be controlled by a small computer. Eventually product development was stopped.
Millard and his chief engineer Joe Killian turned to the microprocessor. Intel had announced the 8080 chip, and compared to the 4004 to which IMS Associates had been first introduced, the 8080 looked like a "real computer". Full scale development of the IMSAI 8080 was put into action (using the existing Altair 8800's S-100 bus), and by October 1975 an ad was placed in Popular Electronics, receiving positive reactions.
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