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It had a Z80 because CP/M was popular. They had a CP/M cartridge with a Z80 inside it, but it didn't work so Bil Hurd stuck the Z80 right in the machine instead
by kalleboo 3y ago
It had a Z80 because CP/M was popular. They had a CP/M cartridge with a Z80 inside it, but it didn't work so Bil Hurd stuck the Z80 right in the machine instead (where it then became integral to patch up some other problems on starting the thing)
If it didn't have a Z80 it would have had nothing else instead.
If they decided on MS-DOS compatibility instead, if it sold well or not would depend on how cheap it was to compete with the rest of the clone market. No matter what it would have been a "stopgap" machine since things were moving so fast back then.