The Sinclair QL chronology, all milestones from 1981 until today - edited by Urs König
Adapted from the book "Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology" by Ian Kennedy and Richard Kennedy published in 1986. Edited and enlarged based on my own experiences and research done using ancient computer magazines, letters, QL fanzines, interviews and the internet.

1980s
1981
May
  • Robb Wilmot joined ICL as MD at age of 36. Before that he was at TI where he did business with Sinclair Research and became a friend of Clive Sinclair.
  • John Mathieson joins Sinclair Research Ltd. He came straight from Cambridge University.
December
  • ICL announces plans to use Sinclair BASIC and flat-tube TV for 'One Per Desk' terminal/telephone workstation.
1982
August
  • David Karlin joins Sinclair Research Ltd. He left Fairchild Camera & Instrument Corp. in the US because 1) he wanted to go back home to England and 2) Clive Sinclair offered him his dream job to build his own computer. David Karlin at his early days at Sinclair Research Ltd.
December
  • Sinclair confirms new computer under development, to incorporate 'flat screen' and 'dual microfloppies'.
1983
May
  • Microdrive launch announced for end of May, and 'ZX84 to be a portable' says Searle.
June
  • Clive Sinclair receives Knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II.
1984
January
March
  • SINCLAIR RESEARCH admits that it might have difficulty keeping to the 28-day period specified on its order forms because of incredible demand for the new QL. A spokesman for the company says: "We have had something like 500 to 600 orders every day, so we are beginning to think about delivery problems and how to avoid them." (Sinclair User Issue 25, April 1984)."

April
  • Promises, promises... HAS THE QL finally arrived? At the time of going to press a spokesman for Sinclair Research was confident some customers would receive their computers by the beginning of April, but declined to estimate how many orders would be fulfilled. The delays have caused a reduction in orders received, though the number is well in excess of 10,000. Customers ordering QLs in March received acknowledgements with expected delivery dates in June, when monthly production should be nearing the promised 20,000 units. (Sinclair User Issue 26, Mai 1984)
  • First batch of 89 QL's were shipped to customers by car (SST)
May
  • First reported delivery of a QL to mail order customer - but returned within a week
  • ASA upholds complaints on QL advertising delivery claims, and Spectrum Chess program advertising
July
  • SINCLAIR RESEARCH has defended the delays in QL deliveries and is confident that the same situation will not arise again. Sir Clive Sinclair told journalists at the beginning of July: "The delays in delivery of the QL have not been as great as those experienced when other computers, such as the IBM PC and Acorn Electron, were launched yet we have tended to get all the bricks thrown at us." (Sinclair User Issue 30, September 1984)
  • QLs delivered on time says Sinclair Research IT SEEMS that production of the QL is now up and running with delivery dates to customers fulfilled, despite initial hiccups. Another version of the machine to be shipped to the ever-patient public no longer has the external EPROM hanging from the back - it has been incorporated in the main casing. The bugs present in the first machines have, according to Sinclair spokesman Bill Nichols, been eliminated. They included the tendency of the software to crash and the slow loading time of the Microdrives. The final version of the QL, with the internal EPROM replaced by ROMs, was due to appear towards the end of July. Nichols would not indicate the exact number of QLs shipped to date but said Sinclair Research is on schedule to supply the first 13,000 customers by the promised August delivery dates. The completed manuals have also been delivered, though the ones received at the Sinclair User offices were far from being error-free. With QL problems now, it is hoped, a thing of the past, the stage is set for Sir Clive to attempt to topple Acorn from its enviable position in schools and colleges and, in the States, to recapture the market lost by the withdrawal of Timex earlier this year. (Sinclair User Issue 29, August 1984)
  • QL production reported to be '2000 a week'
  • Corrected versions QL User Guide due in August. Expects 250,000 QLs to be sold by end 1985
  • Improved Psion software promised for 'later in the year'
  • AB Electronics (South Wales) and Samsung Electronics (Korea) appointed as Spectrum assemblers. Projected 200,000 a month production of Spectrums by end 1984, 50,000 a month for QL, 20,000 a month for FTV1 flat-screen TV
September
  • QL and FTV1 flat-screen TV go into retail outlets
  • QL now in 'large volume' production
October
  • Spectrum+ (48K Spectrum with new keyboard/box) released at £179.95
November
  • ICL's 'One Per Desk' workstation launched, using Sinclair Microdrives and SuperBASIC
  • £4m ad campaign starts
December
  • SUCS (Sinclair User Club Schweiz) founded on December 8th
  • Sinclair admirer THOSE microdrives have gained one ally in the form of ICL which has launched a computer called 'One Per Desk'. The machine uses the QL circuit board, which includes the Sinclair ULA, with microdrives and includes a modem, terminal emulation software and monitor. ICL is taking the Sinclair Research lead and supplying the Psion XChange software suite, with upgraded versions of Quill, Archive, Abacus and Easel, on in-built ROM in the package which is to sell for £1,200. Sinclair Research is pleased that ICL has delivered its well-timed pat on the back for its pioneering stance in computing. A spokesman for the company says: "It is nice to see that other people are endorsing our technology." (Sinclair User Issue 34, January 1985)
  • QL sales variable THE QL has been greeted with mixed reactions by the retail trade. While stores such as WH Smith and Boots are pleased with sales, smaller outlets are not so happy. A spokeswoman for WH Smith says: "The QL is selling out fast. We are having no problems with the machine but would like to see more software for it." The same is true of Dixons. Dave Gilbert, a spokesman for the company, says: "We can't get enough of them. It is selling very well. We have had no problems with orders and get all that we need." Smaller shops are having a limited success with the QL. John Arundel of The Silica Shop in Kent says: "We have the QL, and some people have bought them. They are slow to move though." Michael Howard of the Buffer Micro Shop reports a similar story. "We are getting all the QLs that we need. They are not going in vast numbers but we are selling them." Sinclair Research is confident that the slow start will turn into a rush when more people realise that the machine is in the shops. A spokesman says: "Dealers are happy with the QL. Word is out that it is in the shops now and sales will increase accordingly."(Sinclair User Issue 34, January 1985)
1985
January
  • 10 Jan - C5 electric tricycle launched at £399
  • 16 Jan - Sinclair shows FM wristwatch radio at Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in US
  • 30 Jan - Microdrive cartridge price dropped to £1.99 as cartridge sales reach 750,000. Free duplication and bulk carriage purchase offered to software houses to boost QL software
February
  • QL production suspended
  • ICL launch 'One Per Desk' workstation with Microdrives, version of SuperBASIC, Psion packages
  • 7 Feb - Sinclair aborts stock market flotation
  • 20 Feb - Sinclair Research restructures into TV and Communications Division (headed by Bill Jeffrey, brought in from Mars Electronics) and Computer Division (headed by Davis Chatten, ex-Sinclair Production Director). Hugo Davenport appointed Engineering Director (ex-Solatron-Schlumberger)
  • Nigel Searle transfers to head US operation for QL, FM wristwatch radio and FTV1 flat-screen TV mail order
  • Sinclair holds overseas distributors conference, displaying thirty-three software packages and seventeen peripherals available or projected for the QL
  • 22 Feb - Improved Version 2.0 Psion software for the QL announced, to be shipped with new QLs. Free upgrades provided to QLUB members
  • Celebrations of Sinclair's success in the computer market continued at the Which Computer? Show in Birmingham. A competition was held in which the five millionth computer was up for grabs. In typical Sinclair style it was a gold coloured QL.(Sinclair User Issue 36, March 1985)
March
  • 12 Mar - Plans to form and seek funding for separate company for wafer-scale chips under Robb Wilmot are announced by Clive. Wilmot appointed a director of Sinclair Research
  • Institutions holding 10 per cent shares told profits to December £7.9m on £89m turnover, stocks held £34m
  • 25 Mar - Intensive TV and press marketing campaign for QL starts. Sinclair states it 'intends' to sell 200,000 QLs this year
  • Computers go to college SEVEN thousand students at Strathclyde University will each have the use of a QL by 1990. The project is being spearheaded by Professor James Alty - head of the University's Computer Science Department - whose aim is to give all students in related subjects their own personal computers for use in halls of residence as well as on the university campus. Sinclair Research has joined forces with the university and has donated the first 525 machines together with some peripherals and software - worth around £250,000. Andy Knott from Sinclair Research comments, "We feel that the QL is an excellent machine for this type of use and we hope this will be the first of many such projects. We're terribly excited about it." Further support is being given by the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils which is providing a grant of over £150,000 and Epson and MBS Data Efficiency are providing printers and colour monitors respectively. Professor Alty, determined to use British hardware and software for the project, chose the QL as it "could offer the computing power, range of applications and above all, the portability at a suitable price." Alty explains the need for more computers at the university: "The need is for a work station capable of some stand-alone functions such as local filing, editing and program compilation while being capable of linking to the campus network."(Sinclair User Issue 37, April 1985)
April
  • Figures (not released until November) show pre-tax loss of £18m on turnover of £102m. £22m written off for decrease in stock value and bad debts
     
  • 16 Apr - Spanish language QL launched
  • The QL bounces back Faced with a fading market image and indifferent Christmas sales, Sir Clive Sinclair gathered together those companies with QL products to present a miniature trade show for the machine in London on February 27. Held at the London Hilton, the relaunch saw Sir Clive defending the QL against rumours that Atari's promised range of 16-bit micros would demolish QL sales. "I don't rate Atari," he said, with something of the old Sinclair flamboyance. "We are a year ahead of them, and we have a cleverer machine, with the microdrives, for example." Sir Clive went on to announce plans for the first waferchip product, a 0.5 megabyte storage medium which he said would be a viable alternative to Winchester drives. "Being solid state, it is more rugged than a Winchester," he said. The product will be priced at under £300 and battery powered. It will retain data stored after the power has been switched off, and the batteries can be changed without a break in power continuity. As yet, said Sir Clive, there was no firm production schedule, but he hinted that it should be available by the end of the year. New products displayed at the show included a C-compiler from GST, Cambridge LISP from Metacomco, and QL Home Finance and Entrepreneur from Buzzz Software and Tryptych Publishing respectively. New model on the scene YET ANOTHER QL is on the way from Sinclair Research. The JS ROM includes a new series of SuperBasic commands centred around WHEN ... ERROR statements, as well as improved microdrives. The command checks for errors and then, instead of simply crashing the program, activates another part of the program instead. One danger is that it is non-recursive, which means that if there is an error in the new routine, the program will keep nesting the errors until it crashes completely. Knott adds that the new ROM is not considered to constitute a major change in the QL specifications, and those changes which are significant would only be of interest to highly skilled programmers. (Sinclair User Issue 38, May 1985)
May
  • Several London retailers discount QL prices in stores
  • 14 May - French language QL launched
  • 28 May - Sinclair confirms it is seeking £10m-15m to 'fund long-term growth and restructuring' and a new chief executive to replace Clive in this role, denies Clive intends to relinquish his position as chairman, and counters reports of weak computer market by stating they shipped 300,000 Spectrums in pre-Xmas period
  • Sinclair's QL armada FOREIGN language versions of the QL are now coming into production with software packages translated. The first of the new machines, a Spanish version, has already been launched, and Sinclair Research is to follow that with French, Italian and Danish. Further planned launches include Turkish, Greek, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Arabic. "Some countries, such as Greece, require completely different keyboards, and others, such as France have different keyboard layouts," says a spokeswoman.(Sinclair User Issue 39, June 1985)
June
  • 17 June - Robert Maxwell announces rescue bid for Sinclair Research, which has £15m debts. Deal to leave Clive with 8 percent, chairmanship and consultancy
  • Sinclair announces wafer-scale integration process proven viable for commercial production, to be used in 500K memory add-on for QL
  • A halt in production A HALT to QL production was called recently because output had exceeded demand. Julian Goldsmith, a spokesman for Sinclair Research, confirms that production is at a standstill but says that 'the measure is only short-term'. Previously, Sir Clive Sinclair had been predicting that 200,000 QLs would be sold this year but generous estimates have put the total sold at 60,000 covering the period since it was launched. The company is now looking for sales abroad and has converted much of its English stockpile for foreign markets, two of which are Spain and the United States. Goldsmith says: "Spain is a big market and we have a 75 percent share of it." The introduction of the QL into the States has also provoked a lot of interest. The company says that it has received over 26,000 enquiries about the QL and that the machine should have a strong future in the States. Former Sinclair managing director Nigel Searle is co-ordinating the marketing operation. Searle is eminently qualified to spearhead the attack on the US. He has had eight years experience of the American way of life and three of those where spent as managing director of Sinclair US in Boston. He is not worried by the relative lack of success so far encountered by the company. He said, at a meeting of manufacturers and distributors before he left Britain, that before they had joined Timex they had sold almost 25,000 computers on the American market. The company was optimistic that it could sell at least 50,000 machines this year.(Sinclair User Issue 40, July 1985)
July
  • QL beats the field THE MICROCOMPUTER of the Year is the QL, according to the judges of the British Microcomputer Awards. The award was accepted by Sir Clive Sinclair who received a standing ovation at a ceremony in London, arranged by Thames Television, the Sunday Times and VNU Publications. He also picked up the VNU Educational Award for the Spectrum version of Logo, programmed for Sinclair Research by LCSI. Psion chairman David Potter also received a trophy when the Psion bundled exchange packages for the QL won the Thames Home Software Award. Matthew Gaved of Psion commented ecstatically: "Fantastic, marvellous. We are very, very pleased. It is good news for Sinclair and it shows that the QL is still alive and well."(Sinclair User Issue 41, August 1985)
August
  • 9 Aug - Maxwell aborts Sinclair Research takeover
  • Dixons take 160,000 computers and FTV1 flat-screen TVs for £10m
  • 24 Aug - QL price cut from £399 to £199.95
  • No launch in the US THE SPECTACULAR launch of the QL in the US has not materialised. Nigel Searle, former managing director of Sinclair Research, went over to the States in May to organise the bonanza for which, he said, the American people were ready. Although Searle encountered 'immense interest' from the market little of that turned into hard cash. A spokeswoman for the company comments: "Nigel Searle did not want to jump into a new and different market straight away." So, any Americans wanting a QL will have to buy it from Sinclair Research at $499.00.(Sinclair User Issue 42, September 1985)
September
  • 19 Sep - Digital Research confirms talks taking place with Sinclair over GEM operating system for QL
  • 23 Sep - Spectrum 128K version unveiled at Barcelona Computer Fair, result of joint venture with Investronica and Sinclair Research
  • QL prices plummet
    THE PRICE of the QL has been slashed in half, making it the only 16-bit microcomputer for less than £200.00.
    The move comes at the start of what Sinclair Research claims to be an aggressive Christmas marketing campaign and should make potential customers think twice before buying machines such as the ST and Amiga.
    Jane Boothroyd, UK sales and marketing manager for Sinclair Research says: "We have reduced the price of the QL to consumers in line with reduced manufacturing costs. We will achieve major savings from a substantial increase in manufacturing volume. If the QL price drop is successful in attracting new customers it will bring down the price of software and should entice more software houses into the QL market."(Sinclair User Issue 43, October 1985)
October
  • 17 Oct - 'Pandora' '68000-based' portable scheduled for April 1986, at £300
  • 25 Oct - 'Enigma' leaked to Your Computer, May 1986, 3.5-inch discs, mouse, monitor, printer and Psion packages for '£500-1000'. 'Pandora' will be Spectrum (Z80 chip) based
November
  • Sinclair knocks all competition for six
    SINCLAIR RESEARCH is selling twice as many computers as Acorn and Commodore put together, according to a recent survey by Audits of Great Britain.
    Its market share for the four weeks ending September 7 was 56.8 per cent, which is a 20 per cent rise on the last figures published. The bulk of the sales is made up by the Spectrum Plus. The QL lags behind with less than six per cent of sales, followed by other products, such as Sinclair Research peripherals and software, at just half a per cent.
    Although the Spectrum Plus is top of the league, the QL has made the most dramatic leap in sales. The machine's market share has jumped by just under five per cent after only one week at the new £199 price.
    Alison Maguire, marketing manager for Sinclair, says: "These figures, like the latest research from MINTEL, show that far from turning its back on home computers the public is buying almost as many as it was last year.
    "Of course the peak buying season is not yet fully under way but AGB's data supports what we have already said, that Sinclair products are what the public want to buy.
    "The QL market share is also tremendous and backs our decision to reposition the QL at the new price."
    Despite the euphoria from Sinclair, some of the computer manufacturers mentioned in the survey, such as Amstrad, have dismissed the figures as non-representative. It is easy to see why Amstrad, which got a seven per cent slice of the cake, is upset. The poll covered 57,000 units and was taken from such high street stores as Dixons, Laskys, Rumbelows and John Lewis. It did not include Boots and WH Smith. (Sinclair User Issue 45, December 1985)

1986
January
  • 20 Jan - Two years after the glossy launch of the Sinclair QL Urs König bought his first personal QL computer, a German edition made by SAMSUNG Electronics in Korea! Urs states: "The German edition became available at around August/September 1985. After the September 1985 UK price cut the price in Switzerland was also lowered to CHF 1198 just before Christmas. In January 1986 the retail stores started their winter sales off. This gave me additional 10% discount! As I had saved the money I was able to buy two wallets of 4 each Microdrive Cartridges and a Quickshot II joystick. For TAX reasons I've let the retail store receipt be issued to my father's company."
February
  • 13 Feb - Spectrum 128K launched in UK. New sound chip, video output, improved BASIC editor, full keyboard input, nonstandard RS232 port, keypad interface and no 'dot crawl', with 128K memory for £179.95. Numeric keypad available separately for £19.95. Disc drive promised. Clive says "'Pandora" could just be a CP/M machine'
  • The Sinclair QL User magazine issue Jan/Feb 1986 will be the last published by EMAP.
March XXX
  • The Sinclair QL World magazine, published by Focus Magazine Ltd., is now incorporating QL User.
April
  • C5s go on sale in the USA, at $595 complete, $395 kit
  • 7 Apr - Amstrad pays Sinclair £5m for all the rights to existing Sinclair computer products and the right to use the Sinclair brand name on computers, plus commits £11m to Sinclair and his sub-contractors for stock, outstanding orders and work in progress. The deal was orchestrated by Michael Langdon and signed in the early hours of Wednesday April 2nd.
    Sinclair Research becomes research and consultancy, two separate subsidiaries to be formed, one with Timex holding 75 per cent for portable phone project, one with Barclays Bank funding for wafer-scale development.
    •
May
  • QJump first advertising of QRAM, the RAM based utilities and more importantly the Pointer Interface and Windows Manager extensions to QDOS (QLW May 1986, page 30).
  • 10 May - Cambridge Sytems Technology (CST) unveiled the Thor, a QL compatible personal computer, at the ZX MicroFair (QLW July 1986).
July
  • 7 July - Anamartic Ltd launched. Seeks to raise £6m to produce waferscale memory device for production early 1987
1987
February
  • 17 Feb - Z88 (fka Pandora) launched by Sinclair's new company Cambridge Computer Ltd.
August
  • 22 Aug - First attendance of Urs König (COWO Electronic, Switzerland) at a ZX Microfair in London, GB.
September
  • CST presented their Thor XVI QL-compatible computer at the PCW show in London. Sir Clive Sinclair visited their booth and had a chat with David Oliver and Helmuth O. Stuven. He was amused to see the QL story going on.
1988
May
  • 23 May- Earlier this month COWO Electronic signed a distribution agreement with CST for their Thor XVI computer system. The first Export Licence was issued by the Department of Trade & Industry for 10 systems with a total value FOB GBP 10,000. This was the biggest commercial agreement so far for COWO. Urs König, at the age of 20, was really excited about that.
July
  • 19 Jul- COWO Electronic received their first CST Thor XVI computer, an UK made issue 3 machine with all modifications. Delivered by CST, Stevenage under the Royal Export Licence signed earlier in the year.(Invoice)
August
  • Decision at COWO Electronic to start TKICK (short for THOR-KICK), a utility package for the THOR XVI. Main reason for the decision was the fact that existing QL utilities such as QKICK or QRAM did not run on the THOR XVI.
September
  • Decision at COWO Electronic to rename TKICK to TDESK (short for THOR-DESK). Main reason for this decision was the fact that the utility package was evolving into direction of a complete desktop package instead of just a rather small utility. During the next few months first alpha versions were sent for evaluation to Tony Tebby of QJUMP Ltd and COWO's customers who owned a THOR XVI.
November
  • 9 Nov- COWO Electronic received the second and last CST Thor XVI computer, an UK made issue 3 machine with all modifications. As CST was already defunct, the machine has been delivered by THOR INTERNATIONAL, Kobenhavn, DK.(Invoice)
December
  • Pre-release versions 0.00 (first beta) and 0.01 of TDESK were sent for evaluation to Tony Tebby of QJUMP Ltd, THOR INTERNATIONAL (to both CST and DANSOFT companies) and COWO's customers who owned a THOR XVI.
1989
October
  • 21 Oct - COWO Electronic launched and presented their Thor-Desk suite for all QL compatible computers at the European Microfair in Hasselt, Belgium. The Package was demonstrated on a Sinclair QL and a CST Thor XVI computer. Thor-Desk was later renamed to QTop.
1990s
1990
April
  • The Sinclair QL World magazine issue April 1990 is the last issue published by Focus Magazine Ltd.
May
  • The Sinclair QL World magazine issue May 1990 is the first issue published by Maxwell Consumer Magazines.
June
  • 23 Jun - QL-show in Bedburg, Germany. COWO Electronic was present selling its range of products.
1991
April
  • 5 Apr - QL-show in Eindhoven, NL. COWO Electronic was present selling its range of products.
September
  • 14 Sep - COWO Electronic presented their ExeQtor SuperQL (Sinclair QL compatible computer) at the QL-show in Frankfurt, Germany.
December
  • Sun 1 Dec - COWO Electronic presented their ExeQtor SuperQL (Sinclair QL compatible computer) at the 3rd Italian QL-show in Torino
1992
March
  • MyAI Sat 21 or Sun 22? Mar - International QL meeting in Münster-Roxel organised by Franz Hermann of the Sinclair QL User Club e.V. of Germany. COWO Electronic was present as a trader. Dilwyn Jones wrote a show report which was published in QLW July 1992.
  • The Sinclair QL World magazine issue March 1992 is the last issue published by Maxwell Consumer Magazines.
April
  • The Sinclair QL World magazine is now being published by Headway, Home and Law Publishing Ltd.
June
  • The Sinclair QL World magazine is now being published by Arcwind Ltd.
1993
February
  • 27 Feb - QL-show in Eindhoven, NL. COWO Electronic was present selling its range of products.
1994
February
March
  • 13 Mar - QTop version 1.21 sent out as an upgrade to existing customers. Coincidentally the same day Linus Torvalds finished his work on Linux Version 1.00.
May
  • Issue 5 of Volume 3 is the last published issue of the Sinclair QL World magazine. Its last publisher Arcwind Ltd. decided that the title will be closed down with immediate action. Helen Armstrong told its readers in her last note in the Editor's notebook that this will affect her live in a number of ways, and not without trauma.
June
  • Wed 22 Jun - Urs König got heavy injured by an accident in the Swiss Alps during his annual military services. After being rescued and flown to the university hospital of Berne (Inselspital) he needed an 11 hour operation, stayed several days in intensive care and needed to stay a total of 77 days in hospital. As a direct result all work stopped until end of September. QL related activities did not re-start until at least end of 1994 and did not reach the same level of intensity as before. Life was different from then on and the QL was becoming history for me.
1995
April
  • Fri 14 Apr - Decision of Urs König to buy an ATARI JAGUAR for personal use. Order was placed to J-M-S. Decision to attend the US QL-show in June together with Jochen Merz.
May
  • 3 May - Urs König picked up the personal the ATARI JAGUAR interactive multimedia system at the post office. The shipment included the blockbuster game "ALIEN vs PREDATOR".
June
July
  • 21 Jul - Urs König completed the work on QTop v1.23, the post Oak Ridge QL Show release. This release never went into sale and only very few updates were sent out.
September
  • 6 Sep - Due to a new EMC law in the EC which will be effective on January 1st 1996 Miracle Systems Ltd. Stuart Honeyball stated on September 2nd 1995 that QXL, GOLD CARD and SUPER GOLD CARD are EOL. Stuart plans a new product called QXL Gold, a bridge between the PCs ISA bus and the (Super) GOLD CARD for 100GBP (Message thread on comp.sys.sinclair).
1996
1997
1998
January
  • Gerhard Plavec's QL-PD CD-R finished and launched. Urs König contributed COWO Electronic's former commercial applications (QTop, ArcEd), some unfinished and unreleased programs (e.g. Turbo-Animation), all Thornado's applications and most of the CST Thor stuff, all compiled together for this public release.
1999
2000s
2000
June
  • 11 Jun - WORLD OF ALTERNATIVES (AMIGA & ATARI) trade show in the Stadthalle, city of Neuss, Germany (fka ATARI-MESSE). First public appearance of Urs König (fka Mister COWO Electronic, now active on the internet under alias QLvsJAGUAR) as a Retro-Computing enthusiast and collector. This was the Pentecost weekend which we used to make a nice trip and visited good friends in Germany (Jochen Merz on Saturday/Sunday, Torben Eriksen on Sunday/Monday).
October
2001
Januar
May
  • Just For Fun, the humorous autobiography of Linus Torvalds released. In chapter "birth of an operating system" he talks about his experiences with the Sinclair QL.
October
  • Decision at coWo (Urs König's private label, not COWO Electronic as a company anymore) to start the QL/E project (a virtual QL Environment, a Distribution on a CD-ROM). 
2002
January
June
2003
May
2004
April
August
  • "Computer Valley meets Silicon Valley" summer event, Tim Bucher (VP Apple) as special guest.
October
  • QL2004 QL-show in Eindhoven, NL.
2005
2006
September
2007
July
2008
2009
January
February
  • 19 Feb - Huge 10+ pages QL coverage in April Issue of Britain's Personal Computer World (PCW) magazine featuring an interview with David Karlin, a QL vs Mac comparism and a full reprint of the mid April 1984 QL benchtest. (PCW's website).
March
  • PCW did continue with their retro section in the May 2009 issue with the Apple Mac. They had overwhelmingly positive response to the start of the retro section with the QL (April issue).
  • 12 Mar - Sinclair QL Preservation Project (SQPP) launched by Urs König, starting with Documents/Publications from Sinclair Research Ltd and various computer magazines of the years 1984 to 1986.
April
  • In their June 2009 issue the QL had its third – this time small - 2009 coverage in PCW.
July
  • 1 Jul - Announcement for "QL & Mac are 25" international event which will be held Oct 31st/Nov 1st 2009 in Verkehrshaus, Lucerne, Switzerland.
  • 16 Jul - RETRO GAMER magazine had a nice 6 page QL coverage in issue 66.
October
  • 8 Oct - Micro Men, a specially made movie length docu drama about Sir Clive Sinclair and his race to become the first person to release an affordable home computer in the UK, was broadcasted first on Thursday 8th October 2009, 9pm on BBC Four.
November
  • 1 Nov - The "QL & Mac are 25" international event took place on Oct 31st/Nov 1st 2009 in Verkehrshaus, Lucerne, Switzerland. Some 50 people attended the show. Visitors came from the UK, Austria, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. 20 people joined for the 25th anniversary dinner which took place in the "Bistro du Théatre" on Saturday Eve.
December
  • 28 Dec - Linus Torvalds celebrated his 40th birthday. As a birthday surprise Urs König resurrected one of his early written QL software, the 1986 software blitter GMOVE. Linus Torvalds 40th birthday surprise!
2010s
2010
June
November
2011
2012
2013
January
  • 20 Jan - Public release of Wolfgang Lenerz's SMSQmulator, the Java based virtual QL machine running SMSQ/E.
  • 20 Jan - Public release of version 3.14 of SMSQ/E, the QDOS compatible operating system for the Sinclair QL, Qx0 and various QL emulators and virtual QL machines.
February
  • Fri 8 Feb - Urs König met David Karlin (while he was attending a classical music festival in Switzerland) - the former Chief Design Engineer at Sinclair - for a joint ride on the slopes of Gstaad. Urs and David on Eggli.
September
2014
January
  • 12 Jan - Sinclair QL 30th launch anniversary. QL IS 30 2014 - THE DISTRIBUTION announced by Urs König of COWO Enterprises LLC. The new website QLis30.org.uk hosts or links to any 30th anniversary activities.
April
  • Sat 5 Apr - THE Sinclair ZX-TEAM Weekend 2014 in Mahlerts, Germany.
  • Sun 6 Apr - THE Sinclair QL job lot (30 QLs) in Antwerp, Belgium.
September
  • Thu 4 Sep - Up for a drink with Rick Dickinson at the Hotel Beau Rivage in Weggis, Switzerland. See the PICs.
  • Sat 27 Sep - The Sinclair QL rocks The Party at the night of museums in Lausanne, Switzerland. Urs König met Didier Lüthi and Yves Bolognini in the computer museum Bolo on the EPFL campus. Urs was in the computer museum Bolo for only 75 minutes and oh man, he did six quality videos with a total running time of 27:57, saw and touched many beautiful systems, met great people and had a few very interesting chats. He calls that a perfect hour!
October
  • Fri 10 Oct - QLis30 THE CELEBRATION DINNER in the Hotel Holiday Inn in Edinburgh, Scotland. Surprise by Rick Dickinson with his new 2014 QL Design Study. Rick texted "Beau Rivage inspiration. QL rides again!". Event webpage.
  • Sat 11 Oct - QLis30 THE SHOW. Workshop in the Gyle Hall and Lennon Room of the St.Thomas's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. Surprises by Peter Graf who presented Q68, Q60, QLwIP, QLPUI and by Urs König who presented THE DISTRIBUTION v3.00 RC2. Event webpage. Show report.
November
2015
February
  • Sun 1 Feb - Urs König met David Karlin (while he was attending a classical music festival in Switzerland) - the former Chief Design Engineer at Sinclair - for a joint ride on the slopes of Gstaad. See the PICs.
April
  • Sat 11 Apr - Download link of QL IS 30 2014 - THE DISTRIBUTION delivered to registered users.
  • Sat 18 Apr - THE Sinclair ZX-TEAM Weekend 2015 in Mahlerts, Germany.
  • Wed 29 Apr - Download link of QL IS 30 2014 - THE DISTRIBUTION made public to all.
September
October
November
2016
January
  • Wed 20 Jan - Today 30 years ago Urs König bought his 1st personal QL. To celebrate this anniversary, Urs spent an hour to re-publish this webpage which has been taken down by the ISP Swisscom last autumn after more than 16 years due to end of service of their xy.homepage.bluewin.ch hosting package.
April
July
November
December
  • Sat 24 Dec - All 123 issues of the QL Today magazine - scanned as searchable PDFs - are now also available for online reading. Before this re-release they were only part of the QL Today DVDs and QL IS 30 2014 - THE DISTRIBUTION.
2017
February
March
June
  • Sun 4 Jun - Urs König completed the migration of the old QL pages from the defunct qlvsjaguar.homepage.bluewin.ch website.
October
2018
March
April

QL forever!

Urs König (Mister COWO, internet alias QLvsJAGUAR)
http://www.sinclairql.net

Send an eMail to Urs König's "QL" mailbox (replace -at- with @).

Glossary:
  • CST - Cambridge System Technologies, a company founded and managed by David C. Oliver a former Torch employee.
  • PCW - Personal Computer World, a british computer magazine.
  • SRL - Sinclair Research Limited, a company founded and owned by Sir Clive Sinclair.
  • SST - "Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology", a book by Ian Kennedy and Richard Kennedy published in 1986.

    • ...

    Notation:
  • xxx - xxx.
    • ...

    References:
  • ^ a b c d Ian Adamson; Richard Kennedy. "The Quantum Leap - to where?". Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology.


    page maintained: 1999-2018, Urs König


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