Emulate the classic Amstrad PCW

At high school we had a business studies room, next door to our IT department (Goldstar 286 PCs and the RM Nimbus!), which doubled as a form room. Everyday we sat there for registration and important messages, but sometimes we were let loose on the computers. However, these weren’t x86 machines. Rather, they were Amstrad PCW8256 and 8512 powered by the mighty Zilog Z80 processor.

Amstrad, founded by Alan Michael Sugar (AMS-Trading) in 1968 was a well-known manufacturer of low-cost computers and consumer technology. Sometimes its consumer tech was maligned, but in the realm of computing Amstrad had success and gained a strong following. The company would later purchase the Sinclair brand from Sinclair Research (which saw new models of the ZX Spectrum being released).

Amstrad had a history of producing cheaper computing hardware, and in the case of 1985’s PCW8256 the £300 asking price (adjusted for inflation this is approximately £1,000 today), which was a steal compared to Apple’s $2,600 Macintosh Plus. But in classic Amstrad fashion, the PCW range was initially business focused and this saw a few cutbacks, and proprietary additions to the package.