The original retro computing hardware is decades old and aging. So in 2024, it may become more common to experience his 1970s or 1980s machines using emulators on modern machines than on real hardware. There is another, more limited emulation scene where similar 8-bit machines emulate each other. For example, Dragon 32 and Tandy CoCo, which are very similar, try out each other’s software. However, the most rare case is when one classic his machine emulates another with a different architecture, but that’s exactly what happened. [DragonBytes]convinced Tandy CoCo to emulate the Apple II.
Although there are significant hardware differences between the two machines, this project was helped a bit by the fact that CoCo’s Motorola 6809 and Apple’s MOS 6502 had different visions as successors to the Motorola 6800 in a sense. I am guessing that it is. Therefore, although their architectures are different, they are not diametrically opposed. However, other hardware is certainly not that similar. Moto’s 6847 display chip in the Tandy is much more conventional than Steve Wozniak’s clever NTSC hack that gives Apple a color display at minimal cost.
This project is written in assembler and makes no claims to support all Apple modes or to be cycle accurate. But nevertheless, it’s a very impressive achievement.
CoCo has a cult following and has appeared here several times in the past. We especially like this video player.
