AN INTERNET CONNECTION A DECENT BROWSER

Get openMSX at openmsx.org or

WebMSX at https://webmsx.org/

1 A POWERFUL UPDATE

The MSX was a standard for 8-bit microcomputers developed by Microsoft Japan in cooperation with the ASCII Corporation. If every MSX computer had a set of standardized components, software written for one should, in theory, work on any other.

>> In May 1985, the MSX2 standard was announced, bringing a substantial performance, but remaining backward compatible with the MSX.

>> While the new MSX2 standard was designed by the ASCII Corporation, Microsoft continued their software support for the system with MSX-DOS 2.0, which came on a separate cartridge and closely resembles MS-DOS 3.3.

>> Curiously, the MSX2 uses the same 3.58MHz Zilog Z80A CPU found in the original MSX—its substantial power gains come from its other components.

>> Where the old MSX usually had between 32-64KB of RAM (8KB minimum), the MSX2 starts at 64KB, with other models ranging from 128KB to 512KB.

>> Video processing was enhanced with its new Yamaha V9938 VDP. This 21MHz powerhouse was usually coupled with 128 KB of VRAM, allowing 16 colors from a 512 color palette @ 512 x 212, or 256 colors @ 256 x 212. Sprite handling is especially improved with a maximum of 32 sprites on-screen using 16 colors.