Editing Commodore 128 (section)

== History and Development ==

The development of the Commodore 128 began in earnest during the summer of 1984, when Bil Herd was appointed lead designer on the C128 project in an effort to get a new machine ready for show at CES in Las Vegas, the 2nd week of January 1985<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commodore.ca/commodore-products/commodore-128-the-most-versatile-8-bit-computer-ever-made/ |title=Commodore 128 – The Most Versatile 8-Bit Computer Ever Made |publisher=Commodore.ca |date=2025 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>. This gave the development team an incredibly tight deadline of approximately five months to complete the project.

The primary hardware designer of the C128 was Bil Herd, who had worked on the Plus/4<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_128 |title=Commodore 128 - Wikipedia |publisher=Wikipedia |date=2025-06-06 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>. Other hardware engineers were Dave Haynie and Frank Palaia, while the IC design work was done by Dave DiOrio<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_128 |title=Commodore 128 - Wikipedia |publisher=Wikipedia |date=2025-06-06 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>. The main Commodore system software was developed by Fred Bowen and Terry Ryan, while the CP/M subsystem was developed by Von Ertwine<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_128 |title=Commodore 128 - Wikipedia |publisher=Wikipedia |date=2025-06-06 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>.

The development team, known internally as the "C128 Animals"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_128 |title=Commodore 128 - Wikipedia |publisher=Wikipedia |date=2025-06-06 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>, faced significant challenges. The team had an opportunity to slam out one last 8 bit computer, providing they accepted the fact that whatever they did had to be completed in 5 months… in time for the 1985 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hackaday.com/2013/12/09/guest-post-the-real-story-of-hacking-together-the-commodore-c128/ |title=Guest Post: The Real Story Of Hacking Together The Commodore C128 |publisher=Hackaday |date=2016-06-30 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>.

Bil Herd got the top job as 128 lead Engineer because of his vocal criticism of the new management team's lack of vision: "No one dreamed that C64 compatibility was possible so, no one thought along those lines. I had decided to make the next machine compatible with something instead of yet another incompatible CBM machine"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commodore.ca/commodore-products/commodore-128-the-most-versatile-8-bit-computer-ever-made/ |title=Commodore 128 – The Most Versatile 8-Bit Computer Ever Made |publisher=Commodore.ca |date=2025 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>.

Initially, the design goals of the C128 did not include 100% compatibility with the C64. Some form of compatibility was always intended after Herd was approached at the Plus/4's introduction by a woman who was disappointed that the educational software package she had written for the C64 would not run on Commodore's new computer, but when Commodore's marketing department learned of this, they independently announced total compatibility<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_128 |title=Commodore 128 - Wikipedia |publisher=Wikipedia |date=2025-06-06 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>.