I have three main units (two CIB) and three power adapters.
type computer
country UK
year 1984
os Sinclair super basic
cpu Motorola 68008 with 8-bit data bus
speed 7.5 MHz
ram 128 KB
rom 48 KB
graphic 256 x 256 (8)
colors 256
sound beeper
ports two controllers, two serials, two networks, external microdrive bus, RGB, RF
The Sinclair QL — Clive Sinclair’s Professional Computer
Released in January 1984, the Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap) was Clive Sinclair’s most ambitious computer — a professional machine using the Motorola 68008 processor that offered genuine multitasking capability, a suite of productivity software, and networking features at a price of £399. Targeted at small businesses and professionals rather than the home gaming market that the Spectrum had dominated, the QL was a genuinely innovative machine that was years ahead of competing personal computers in its operating system design and multitasking capability.
QDOS — Multitasking Before Windows
The QL’s QDOS (Quantum Disk Operating System) was a genuinely sophisticated operating system that supported true preemptive multitasking — the ability to run multiple programs simultaneously, each in their own memory space. This capability, standard in Unix workstations costing tens of thousands of pounds, was available in the QL for £399 in 1984. QDOS was developed by Tony Tebby of Sinclair Research, and its design was so sound that descendants of it continue in active development today as SMSQ/E, running on modern Atari ST and other systems.
Linus Torvalds’s First Computer
The Sinclair QL holds a notable place in computing history as the first computer owned by Linus Torvalds — the Finnish programmer who would later create the Linux kernel. Torvalds received a QL as a gift and learned programming on it, including developing a Forth interpreter and text editor. The QL’s multitasking operating system and Motorola 68008 processor gave Torvalds early exposure to concepts that would inform his later development of Linux. The QL’s Finnish connection makes it particularly relevant to the Computer Museum Ata collection.
Commercial Disappointment
Despite its technical sophistication, the QL was a commercial disappointment — plagued by supply problems, early reliability issues with its Microdrive storage system, and a software library that never reached the scale needed to compete with the IBM PC-compatible machines that were rapidly becoming the business computing standard. The QL was discontinued in 1985, but its technical legacy — particularly QDOS’s multitasking design — influenced computing far beyond its commercial life.