Joysticks connected to the QL with similar type 630W plugs. ==History== The QL was originally conceived in 1981 under the code-name ZX83, as a portable computer for business users, with a built-in ultra-thin flat-screen CRT display similar to the later TV80 pocket TV, printer and modem.
As development progressed it eventually became clear that the portability features were over-ambitious and the specification was reduced to a conventional desktop configuration. The electronics were primarily designed by David Karlin, who joined Sinclair Research in summer 1982.
Microdrives had been introduced for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum in July 1983, although the QL used a different logical tape format.
The Sinclair QL (for Quantum leap) microcomputer is a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as an upper-end counterpart to the ZX Spectrum.
At the time of the rushed launch, on 12 January 1984, the QL was far from being ready for production—there being no complete working prototype in existence.
After Amstrad acquired Sinclair's computer products lines in April 1986, the QL was officially discontinued.
His frustration with the Sinclair led, years later, to his purchasing a more standard IBM PC compatible on which he would develop Linux. ===Clones=== After Amstrad abandoned the QL in 1986, several companies previously involved in the QL peripherals market stepped in to fill the void.
These included CST and DanSoft, creators of the Thor line of compatible systems; Miracle Systems, creator of the Gold Card and Super Gold Card processor/memory upgrade cards and the QXL PC-based hardware emulator; and Qubbesoft, with the Aurora, the first replacement QL mainboard, with enhanced graphics modes. In the late 1990s, two partly QL-compatible motherboards named Q40 and Q60 (collectively referred to as Qx0) were designed by Peter Graf and marketed by D&D Systems.
The Q40 and Q60, based on the Motorola 68040 and 68060 CPUs respectively, were much more powerful than the original QL and have the ability among other things (such as multimedia, high resolution graphics, Ethernet networking etc.) to run the Linux operating system. In 2013 Peter Graf announced that he's working on the Q68, a FPGA based QL compatible single board computer.
The Q68 was first presented to the public in April 2014 and became available in autumn 2017.
The Q68 was first presented to the public in April 2014 and became available in autumn 2017.
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