Editing ABC 80 (section)

== Popularity ==
In addition to its widespread use in schools, offices and industrial applications, the {{nowrap|ABC 80}} initially also grasped a majority share of the rising personal computer market in [[Sweden]], partly thanks to its [[office software]] in [[Swedish language|Swedish]]. The computer was robust and well engineered, mechanically and electrically, and its BASIC was fast enough that it could be used to write [[arcade game]]s, without resorting to [[assembly language]]. However, despite such technical virtues, it couldn't defend the home market against the dedicated gaming computers with color and sound that appeared in the early 1980s, neither against the cheap ultra simplistic [[home computer]]s of the same era,<ref>With the [[VIC 20]] and the [[ZX81]] being typical examples, respectively.</ref> even though a new low cost version was released that could use an ordinary [[Television set|TV]] instead of the dedicated monitor.

[[Luxor AB|Luxor]] (and Facit) held on to its more professional markets for some more years with the ABC 800 series (also sold as Facit DTC). It had a more extensive BASIC, more memory, color, and a 512×240 graphics mode. From 1985 DIAB and [[Luxor AB|Luxor]] also tried to compete against the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] in the industrial and office markets with its high performance [[ABC 1600]] and ABC 9000 series of computers based on DIABs [[real-time operating system]] called [[DNIX]], but failed.

However, many ABC 80 and ABC 800 machines used in industrial or scientific applications were in use in their respective installations for many years to come, sometimes well into the late 1990s, despite no longer being produced.<ref>This was practical enough as the ABC 80 as well as most I/O, peripheral, and expansion cards used almost no custom designed parts. Most of the ROM, DRAM and SRAM memory ICs were socketed and replaceable for many years. The Z80 family and most of the [[integrated circuit]]s in the 74-series used to implement the logic are actually still readily available, as of 2016.</ref>