<s>
Compucolor	B-Device
is	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
color	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
introduced	O
by	O
Compucolor	B-Device
Corporation	I-Device
of	O
Norcross	O
,	O
Georgia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
color	O
home	B-Device
computer	O
system	O
with	O
built-in	O
color	O
graphics	O
and	O
floppy-based	B-Device
data	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
the	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8080	I-General_Concept
CPU	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
model	O
was	O
an	O
upgrade	O
kit	O
for	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
color	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminal	I-General_Concept
,	O
turning	O
the	O
Intecolor	B-Device
8001	O
into	O
the	O
Compucolor	B-Device
8001	O
by	O
adding	O
more	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
optional	O
storage	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
in	O
1976	O
,	O
the	O
8001	O
was	O
soon	O
replaced	O
by	O
the	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
in	O
1977	O
,	O
although	O
shipments	O
did	O
not	O
start	O
until	O
the	O
next	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
was	O
smaller	O
,	O
less	O
expensive	O
,	O
and	O
used	O
the	O
newly	O
introduced	O
5.25-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
instead	O
of	O
the	O
former	O
8-inch	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compucolor	B-Device
opened	O
its	O
first	O
retail	O
computer	O
store	O
in	O
Norcross	O
,	O
Georgia	O
USA	O
in	O
1979	O
,	O
aptly	O
named	O
the	O
"	O
Compucolor	B-Device
Computer	O
Store.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1983	O
,	O
Compucolor	B-Device
was	O
out	O
of	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compucolor	B-Device
,	O
and	O
its	O
forerunner	O
,	O
Intecolor	B-Device
,	O
produced	O
three	O
computer	O
designs	O
(	O
Intecolor	B-Device
8001	O
,	O
Compucolor	B-Device
8001	O
and	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
)	O
over	O
the	O
life	O
of	O
the	O
parent	O
company	O
,	O
Intelligent	O
Systems	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intelligent	O
Systems	O
Corporation	O
's	O
first	O
product	O
was	O
the	O
Intecolor	B-Device
8001	O
,	O
an	O
intelligent	O
terminal	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8080	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
some	O
time	O
in	O
early	O
1976	O
,	O
it	O
consisted	O
of	O
a	O
$	O
1,395	O
kit	O
based	O
around	O
a	O
19-inch	O
RCA	O
delta-gun	O
CRT	B-Device
and	O
came	O
with	O
4kB	O
of	O
random-access	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
(	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
1976	O
,	O
the	O
newly	O
formed	O
Compucolor	B-Device
subsidiary	O
released	O
the	O
Compucolor	B-Device
8001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
another	O
$	O
1,295	O
kit	O
that	O
converted	O
an	O
Intecolor	B-Device
8001	O
into	O
a	O
complete	O
computer	O
with	O
BASIC	O
on	O
a	O
built-in	O
ROM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
initially	O
booted	O
,	O
the	O
machine	O
starts	O
in	O
"	O
terminal	B-General_Concept
mode	I-General_Concept
"	O
an	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
glass	O
terminal	O
for	O
its	O
RS-232	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pressing	O
launches	O
the	O
ROM-based	O
BASIC	B-Language
interpreter	I-Language
,	O
while	O
launched	O
the	O
machine	B-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
monitor	I-General_Concept
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
optional	O
"	O
floppy	B-Device
tape	O
"	O
drive	O
with	O
two	O
8-track	O
tape	O
cartridges	O
was	O
available	O
for	O
storage	O
,	O
running	O
at	O
about	O
4,800	O
bps	O
and	O
storing	O
up	O
to	O
1MB	O
per	O
tape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1977	O
they	O
released	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
controller	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Western	B-Device
Digital	I-Device
FD1771	I-Device
to	O
support	O
IBM	O
3740-style	O
8-inch	O
drives	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
1978	O
,	O
another	O
supporting	O
8-inch	O
drives	O
from	O
Shugart	O
and	O
Siemens	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
ROM-based	O
BASIC	O
8001	O
was	O
a	O
clone	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
for	O
the	O
8080	B-General_Concept
,	O
differing	O
only	O
in	O
the	O
way	O
it	O
handled	O
strings	O
,	O
requiring	O
memory	O
to	O
be	O
set	O
aside	O
for	O
them	O
using	O
where	O
X	O
was	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
bytes	O
,	O
and	O
having	O
separate	O
and	O
to	O
return	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
general	O
memory	O
and	O
string	O
memory	O
separately	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1977	O
,	O
Intelligent	O
Systems	O
Corp	O
announced	O
the	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
,	O
an	O
all-in-one	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
8001	O
system	O
using	O
a	O
lower-cost	O
General	O
Electric	O
13-inch	O
color	O
television	O
with	O
the	O
tuning	O
section	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
removed	O
and	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
5.25-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
mounted	O
vertically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
did	O
not	O
begin	O
selling	O
the	O
systems	O
until	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
1978	O
,	O
by	O
which	O
time	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
was	O
widely	O
available	O
with	O
similar	O
specs	O
at	O
a	O
lower	O
price	O
point	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pressing	O
dropped	O
into	O
the	O
"	O
File	O
Control	O
System	O
"	O
disk	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
pressing	O
returns	O
to	O
BASIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
8080	B-General_Concept
operating	O
at	O
clock	O
rate	O
and	O
used	O
a	O
SMC	O
CRT5027	O
video	O
controller	O
,	O
a	O
Japanese-produced	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Texas	O
Instruments	O
TMS	O
9927	O
,	O
programmed	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
screen	O
format	O
of	O
32	O
lines	O
with	O
64	O
characters	O
per	O
line	O
(	O
see	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
character	O
set	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internal	O
proprietary	O
ROM	B-Device
firmware	B-Application
allowed	O
a	O
plot	O
graphics	O
array	O
of	O
128	O
H	O
by	O
128	O
V	O
available	O
in	O
eight	O
colors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
used	O
a	O
custom	O
designed	O
5.25	B-Device
"	I-Device
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
which	O
was	O
placed	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
monitor	O
cabinet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
utilized	O
a	O
serial	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
and	O
was	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Compucolor	B-Device
Drive	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
CD	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
reliability	O
issues	O
with	O
this	O
design	O
since	O
any	O
variance	O
in	O
motor	O
spindle	O
speed	O
would	O
cause	O
difficulty	O
reading	O
or	O
writing	O
floppy	B-Device
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
there	O
were	O
a	O
few	O
electromagnetic	O
issues	O
within	O
the	O
cabinet	O
space	O
that	O
interfered	O
with	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
recording	O
and	O
read	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
disk	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
known	O
as	O
"	O
File	O
Control	O
System	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
FCS	O
"	O
was	O
designed	O
in-house	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
FCS	O
,	O
when	O
a	O
file	O
was	O
deleted	O
,	O
the	O
individual	O
file	O
would	O
be	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
file	O
list	O
volume	O
and	O
the	O
remaining	O
data	O
would	O
be	O
moved	O
to	O
fill	O
sequential	O
empty	O
space	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
portion	O
of	O
display	O
video	O
RAM	B-Architecture
as	O
a	O
transfer	O
buffer	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
legally	O
available	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
was	O
written	O
by	O
in-house	O
software	O
programmers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
20	O
software	O
titles	O
were	O
officially	O
released	O
by	O
Compucolor	B-Device
with	O
custom	O
5-1/4	O
"	O
artwork	O
title	O
covers	O
:	O
Air	O
Raid	O
,	O
Othello	O
,	O
Blackjack	O
,	O
Bounce	O
,	O
Chess	O
,	O
Cubic	O
Tic	O
Tac	O
Toe	O
,	O
Lunar	B-Application
Lander	I-Application
,	O
Maze	O
Master	O
,	O
Sharks	O
,	O
Shoot	O
,	O
Solitaire	O
,	O
Star	O
Trader	O
,	O
Star	O
Trip	O
,	O
and	O
Swarms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
groundswell	O
of	O
hobbyists	O
and	O
user	O
groups	O
who	O
created	O
software	O
for	O
sale	O
or	O
"	O
shareware	B-License
"	O
among	O
its	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
important	O
title	O
for	O
the	O
Compucolor	B-Device
II	I-Device
was	O
probably	O
Star	O
Trip	O
,	O
which	O
mimicked	O
the	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
genre	O
.	O
</s>
