About the EXDOS card: the hw is also developed in the IS? If yes then can you remember how chosen the disk controller IC? Always thought WD1770 or other controllers are in the race? (Earlier WDs or the NEC 765 series)

I asked the controller Ic because of some mystery about the Enterprise floppy plans.
This is the unit that we see on lots of photos:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
It is very nice design! I love the green buttons, these look like the green cap of the EP64 joystick! I really want one

The Technical Answers talks about a very strange disk format:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Single sided, 70 tracks??? Firstly I thought it is mistyped
Later when searching for Apricot information, I found first 3.5" floppy drive: Sony OA-D30V (technical details)
In the Apricots used Sony OA-32V, these are a single sided, 70 tracks!
Comparised the Sony drive photos with the Enterprise drive unit: very likely the unit is designed for these drives.
It is ok, but a big problem: these drives rotating at 600 rpm then needed a 500Kbit/sec transfer speed instead of the normal 250Kbit (for DD). From the WD controler family the WD279x series can handle this, Apricots used these ICs.
Second problem: the 4Mhz Z80 is not enough fast for the 500Kbit*, especially when working in the delayed video memory. Then DMA controller needed, or least 6Mhz Z80. With this plan the EXDOS are very different than the final version!
(The later 300rpm 3.5" drives solved the transfer speed problem.)

* I known it because I made a Turbo circuit for the EXDOS, WD1772 overclocked to 16Mhz can handle the HD disk at 500Kbit/sec transfer speed. But needed least 6Mhz Enterprise to do this. (Many years later I found the Atari ST users do the same thing with WD1772.)

I always thought the design of the disks and other "extras" were rather square and boxy compared to the sexy curves of the Enterprise itself They could at least have rounded the corners off!

These not designed by the Hollington's team?

The IS just got the dummy units before the launch event?

I always thought the design of the disks and other "extras" were rather square and boxy compared to the sexy curves of the Enterprise itself They could at least have rounded the corners off!

But what do I know?...I know about beauty and elegance in code, not plastic!  Though you might not find much beauty in your EXDOS disassemblies! 

Hello Mr Tanner!

 Were any women employed by Intelligent Software in the old days? When I see the photo and read your memories, noticed everybody was "masculine".
At that time, weren't there female programmers?

 I'm curious about your child. Do you intend to show her the Enterprise computer? I was 3 when my father bought one, and this computer with the many games, and the well written IS-BASIC environment, was inspirative to learn deal with a computer and later the progamming itself. Of course my BASIC self-training (from very good Hungarian books) started when I learned reading (about age of 7) but I think before that I could write a program like that bellow, and I remember when I switched on the computer I typed it every time. (You know, practice makes perfectly.)
10 TEXT
20 FOR A=1 TO 10
30 PRINT "Janika okos gyerek"
40 NEXT

 The text in the line 30 means: "Johnny (that's my name) is a smart kid". As I remember my father showed me how to write a for cycle with print, and I "improved" it, to enrich my self confidence.
 By the way, the black screen with the green letters was a perfect choice. This "desktop theme" you choosen, wasn't straining for a child's eyes, when programming 16 hours in BASIC on a color TV (only for fun, and to amaze my father).

 I want to thank you for what you did, and the way you done, Sir! From now, you became my ideal.

Is Hungary any better?

When I learned at programing school (1989-1993) there were about four times more boys than girls.

I recommend to show her the cute game called Sorcery and another called Claudron. I loved these games at age of 4. Have you got external joystick with the computer? It's necessary to enjoy any game.

Thank you for the tips- I will do that! No external joystick yet but I can work on that!