Despite the fact that the
Computer Division of Sharp Corporation had released the
MZ series, suddenly the
Television Division released a new computer series called the X1. At the time the original X1 was released, all other home computers generally had a
BASIC language in
ROM. However the X1 did not have a BASIC ROM, and it had to load the
Hu-BASIC interpreter from a cassette tape. On the plus side however, this concept meant that a free
RAM area was available that was as big as possible when not using BASIC. This policy was originally copied from the
Sharp MZ series, and they were called
clean computers in Japan. The cabinet shape of X1 was also much more stylish than others at that time and a range of cabinet colors (including Red) was selectable. Sharp never released an
MSX computer in Japan. Some X1 developers were proud to develop their own technology, and they didn't want to work with
Microsoft who attempted to create a unified standard. However, the Brazilian subsidiary of Sharp, Epcom, released an MSX computer named
Hotbit HB-8000 in Brazil. == History ==