Originally the CPC was destined to be designed around the 6502 processor. But when Amstrad approached [[Locomotive Software]] to develop a Basic for it with a very tight deadline, Locomotive PLC, who already had a Z80 Basic in the works, urged and convinced Amstrad to switch to the Z80.
Although there were definitely other CPUs in use in the 1980s, the vast majority of microcomputers people had at home or at the office used either a [[MOS 6502]] (or one of its variants), a Zilog [[Z80]], an early member of the [[Intel 8086]] family, or a [[Motorola 68000]].
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