Post #4011329

2026-07-22 11:50 UTC

@RogerBW@discordian.social @zzt@mas.to @davidgerard@circumstances.run @denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org Without disagreeing, the QL was amazing in its own way. It launched 2wk *before* the Mac, with the same amount of RAM -- 128kB -- but for 1/3 of the price. The Mac's Toolbox was in ROM, but the OS needed much of that paltry non-expandable RAM... while most of the QL's RAM was usable because QDOS ran direct from ROM. Oh, and the QL took up to 640kB. The low RAM ceiling meant that with a single 400kB drive the Mac was unusable... but the QL had twin 100kB drives. Small, slow, but 2 of them. It was a fully natively multitasking OS, in 1984. In true Sinclair style, the QL was cut down too far, and some of the compromises couldn't be worked around. Apple bet on the right trend: a GUI. Sinclair bet on the wrong one: multitasking. But the QL-compatible Q68 is still on sale today, and the Spectrum Next (3rd batch on order now) has a native QL mode. https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2024/01/16/the-sinclair-qls-legacy-at-40/407726

Replies (4)

@Maker_of_Things@cupoftea.social 2026-07-22 13:59

@lproven@social.vivaldi.net @RogerBW@discordian.social @zzt@mas.to @davidgerard@circumstances.run @denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org Back in the 80s we ran our electrical and building services company on a couple of Sinclair QLs.

Open ##4013619
@cstross@wandering.shop 2026-07-22 12:45

@lproven@social.vivaldi.net @RogerBW@discordian.social @zzt@mas.to @davidgerard@circumstances.run @denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org Where's the Spectrum Next issue 3 on order? All I can find is the now-closed kickstarter (that began a year ago).

Open ##4226629
@jonpsp@mstdn.social 2026-07-22 14:31

@lproven@social.vivaldi.net @RogerBW@discordian.social @zzt@mas.to @davidgerard@circumstances.run @denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org The QL also had some magic caching of data coming off the Microdrive cartridges, and SuperBASIC was great (and had error trapping).

Open ##4226634
@TimWardCam@c.im 2026-07-22 16:48

@lproven@social.vivaldi.net @RogerBW@discordian.social @zzt@mas.to @davidgerard@circumstances.run @denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org And the multitasking only worked because I spotted a bug in the ZX8302 chip which David Karlin fixed before the product was released. There was a flip-flop which had a set input which should have been a reset input (or the other way around). At this distance I forget the details, but I think it was something like: you couldn't use the microdrive and the serial port from separate processes at the same time.

Open ##4226635