Last Updated on April 22, 2022
Emulation is the practice of using a program (called an emulator) on a PC to mimic the behaviour of a home computer or a video game console, in order to play (usually retro) games on a computer.
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single non-technical user.
Back in the 1980s, home computers came to the forefront of teenagers’ minds. Specifically, the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and Atari ST were extremely popular. They were hugely popular home computers targeted heavily towards games, but they also ran other types of software.
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (renamed the Model I) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation. It is one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers. It spawned a whole series of later models that used the TRS-80 name even though they were unrelated.
The TRS-80 has a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, the Zilog Z80 processor, 4 KB DRAM standard memory, small size and desk footprint, floating-point Level I BASIC language interpreter in ROM, and 64-character per line video monitor.
TRS-80 Emulators
trs80gp is a well-featured emulator. It emulates the “gray” line of TRS-80 computers made by Tandy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This includes the TRS-80 Model I, II, III, 4 and 16 Microcomputers, and others. There’s also support for the TRS-80-DT-1 and Videotex terminals. The emulator provides ROMS for the Model I, III, 4, and 4P.
The emulator supports DSK, DMG, IMG and HFE disk formats. It can run at full PC speed, supports Model III high speed cassettes, and has a built-in Z80 debugger.
trs80grp has a good range of features.
We are also admirers of the SDLTRS project although it’s not as full-featured as trs80grp.
TRS-80 Software
By 1979, the TRS-80 had the largest selection of software in the microcomputer market. Until 1982, the TRS-80 was the best-selling PC line.
Besides BASIC, programs to drive modems, and early spreadsheet and word processing programs (such as the groundbreaking Electric Pencil program), a hugely popular series of games for the TRS-80 were Scott Adams’ Adventure series, plain-text adventure games.
Notable sites that offer archives of TRS-80 programs include Ira Goldklang’s TRS-80 Revived Site.
| Home Computers | |
|---|---|
| Amiga | Family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985 |
| Amstrad CPC | Combined the computer, keyboard and data storage in a single unit |
| Atari ST | A popular line of personal computers from Atari Corporation |
| BBC Micro | Series of computers designed and built by Acorn |
| Commodore 64 | Hugely popular home computer |
| Dragon | Built around the Motorola MC6809E processor running at 0.89 MHz |
| Electron | A microcomputer sported a Synterek SY6502A CPU clocked at 2MHz |
| MSX | A popular range particularly in Japan |
| Oric | The underrated Oric-1 and Oric Atmos |
| QL | Based on a Motorola 68008 CPU clocked at 7.5 MHz with 128KB of RAM |
| TRS-80 | Very early mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers |
| VIC-20 | 8-bit home computer that was released in 1980/1 |
| ZX80 | Predecessor to the ZX81; ignited the UK's home computer market |
| ZX81 | Low-cost introduction to home computing notorious for its RAM pack wobble |
| ZX Spectrum | One of the biggest selling home computers |
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |