<s>
The	O
Sharp	B-Operating_System
MZ	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
personal	O
computers	O
sold	O
in	O
Japan	O
and	O
Europe	O
(	O
particularly	O
Germany	O
and	O
Great	O
Britain	O
)	O
by	O
Sharp	O
beginning	O
in	O
1978	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
commonly	O
believed	O
to	O
stand	O
for	O
"	O
Microcomputer	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
"	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
MZ	O
actually	O
has	O
its	O
roots	O
in	O
the	O
MZ-40K	O
,	O
a	O
home	O
computer	O
kit	O
produced	O
by	O
Sharp	O
in	O
1978	O
which	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
Fujitsu	O
's	O
4-bit	O
MB8843	O
processor	O
and	O
provided	O
a	O
simple	O
hexadecimal	O
keypad	O
for	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
soon	O
followed	O
by	O
the	O
MZ-80K	O
,	O
K2	O
,	O
C	O
,	O
and	O
K2E	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
8-bit	O
LH0080A	O
Sharp	O
CPU	O
(	O
compatible	O
to	O
Zilog	B-General_Concept
Z80A	I-General_Concept
)	O
with	O
an	O
alphanumeric	O
keyboard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
first	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
processor-based	O
model	O
to	O
the	O
MZ-2200	O
in	O
1983	O
,	O
the	O
MZ	O
computers	O
included	O
the	O
PC	O
,	O
monitor	B-Device
,	O
keyboard	O
,	O
and	O
tape-based	O
recorder	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
unit	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
Commodore	O
's	O
PET	B-Device
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
notable	O
for	O
not	O
including	O
a	O
programming	O
language	O
or	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
in	O
ROM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
era	O
when	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
were	O
too	O
expensive	O
for	O
most	O
home	O
users	O
,	O
the	O
MZ	O
's	O
built-in	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
drive	O
was	O
faster	O
and	O
more	O
reliable	O
than	O
the	O
cassette	O
storage	O
on	O
some	O
competing	O
computers	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
however	O
,	O
this	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
MZ	O
series	O
was	O
relatively	O
slow	O
to	O
adopt	O
floppy	B-Device
drives	I-Device
as	O
a	O
standard	O
accessory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1983	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
home	O
computers	O
appeared	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
,	O
the	O
Sharp	O
MZ-700	O
was	O
briefly	O
the	O
10th	O
best	O
selling	O
machine	O
out	O
of	O
20	O
considered	O
,	O
beating	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
IIe	I-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
800	I-Device
and	O
TI-99/4A	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
21	O
December	O
2012	O
,	O
SHARP	O
published	O
PDF	B-Application
files	I-Application
of	O
manuals	O
for	O
the	O
MZ-80	O
on	O
their	O
official	O
Twitter	B-Application
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
28	O
December	O
2012	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
the	O
manual	O
PDF	B-Application
files	I-Application
had	O
been	O
downloaded	O
3,804,756	O
times	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sharp	O
's	O
Twitter	B-Application
account	I-Application
said	O
"	O
Manual	O
of	O
MZ-80	O
...	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1982	O
,	O
Sharp	O
's	O
television	O
division	O
released	O
the	O
X1	B-Device
,	O
a	O
completely	O
new	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
this	O
series	O
saw	O
little	O
marketplace	O
success	O
,	O
and	O
eventually	O
the	O
company	O
abandoned	O
the	O
line	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
the	O
X68000	B-Device
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MZ	O
name	O
lives	O
on	O
as	O
the	O
initials	O
of	O
two	O
of	O
Sharp	O
's	O
most	O
well-known	O
products	O
:	O
the	O
Mebius	O
line	O
of	O
PCs	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Zaurus	B-Operating_System
line	O
of	O
personal	B-Application
digital	I-Application
assistants	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sharp	B-Operating_System
MZ-80K	I-Operating_System
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
popular	O
early	O
consumer-level	O
microcomputers	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
architecture	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Zilog	B-General_Concept
Z80	I-General_Concept
8-bit	O
microprocessor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
run	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
high-level	O
languages	O
including	O
BASIC	O
,	O
Pascal	B-Application
and	O
FORTRAN	B-Application
,	O
which	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
loaded	O
into	O
RAM	O
before	O
any	O
programming	O
could	O
be	O
undertaken	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machine	O
had	O
an	O
inbuilt	O
monochrome	O
display	O
and	O
a	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
superseded	O
in	O
1982	O
by	O
the	O
MZ-80A	B-Operating_System
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-80A	B-Operating_System
(	O
1982	O
)	O
/MZ	O
-1200	O
:	O
An	O
upgraded	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
80K	O
with	O
improved	O
keyboard	O
,	O
more	O
VRAM	O
and	O
a	O
green-screen	O
VDU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-700	B-Operating_System
(	O
1982	O
)	O
:	O
The	O
first	O
MZ	O
without	O
a	O
built-in	O
monitor	B-Device
;	O
an	O
optional	O
data	O
recorder	O
and	O
plotter	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
installed	O
to	O
the	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Features	O
320×	O
200-pixel	O
graphics	O
and	O
built-in	O
sound	O
capability	O
using	O
a	O
Texas	B-Device
Instruments	I-Device
SN76489	I-Device
sound	O
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tape	O
recorder	O
has	O
been	O
replaced	O
with	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
that	O
reads	O
2.8-inch	O
Quick	O
Disks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-800	O
(	O
1985	O
)	O
:	O
The	O
first	O
MZ	O
with	O
a	O
640×	O
200-pixel	O
graphics	O
mode	O
,	O
a	O
Texas	B-Device
Instruments	I-Device
SN76489	I-Device
sound	O
chip	O
and	O
a	O
Quick	O
Disk	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-2000	O
(	O
1982	O
)	O
:	O
640×	O
200-pixel	O
monochrome	O
monitor	B-Device
built-in	O
;	O
color	O
optional	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-2500	B-Device
(	O
SuperMZ	O
)	O
series	O
:	O
Launched	O
in	O
1985	O
,	O
the	O
computers	O
in	O
this	O
series	O
all	O
used	O
a	O
Z80B	B-General_Concept
processor	O
running	O
at	O
6MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
included	O
a	O
data	O
recorder	O
and	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
3.5	O
internal	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
YM2203	O
sound	O
chip	O
,	O
hardware	O
scrolling	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
palette	O
of	O
256	O
colors	O
(	O
upgradable	O
to	O
4096	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-2861	O
(	O
1987	O
)	O
:	O
A	O
hybrid	O
16-bit	O
machine	O
running	O
on	O
an	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80286	I-General_Concept
and	O
a	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
for	O
MZ-2500	B-Device
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
run	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
in	O
16-bit	O
mode	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
PC98	B-Operating_System
emulator	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
of	O
them	O
feature	O
5.25-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-3500	O
series	O
(	O
1982	O
)	O
:	O
Runs	O
on	O
two	O
Z80A	B-General_Concept
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-5500	O
series	O
(	O
1983	O
)	O
:	O
An	O
MS-DOS-based	O
machine	O
running	O
on	O
an	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8086	I-General_Concept
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-6500	O
series	O
(	O
1984	O
)	O
:	O
A	O
high-speed	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
MZ-5500	O
marketed	O
as	O
a	O
CAD	B-Application
workstation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-6550	O
:	O
A	O
vertically	O
mounted	O
machine	O
with	O
an	O
80286	B-General_Concept
processor	O
and	O
a	O
3.5-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-100	O
:	O
notebook	O
/	O
laptop	O
with	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
processor	O
and	O
two	O
720KB	O
DS/DD	O
3.5	B-Device
"	I-Device
floppy	I-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MZ-8000	O
series	O
:	O
A	O
line	O
of	O
PC/AT	B-Operating_System
-compatible	O
machines	O
running	O
on	O
80286	B-General_Concept
and	O
80386	B-General_Concept
processors	O
.	O
</s>
