This was due to the use of custom ASICs for graphics and sound which took workload away from the CPU, an extensive implementation of ANSI BASIC and a bank switching system to allow for larger amounts of RAM than the Z80 natively supported.

[3] Ultimately, not assisted by release delays and a changing market place, the Enterprise was not commercially successful.

The manufacturer called in the receivers in 1986 with significant debt, although old stock continued to be sold through a German partner until well into the 1990s.

"Nick" manages graphics, while "Dave" handles sound and memory paging (bank switching).

An external floppy drive became available later, and allowed access to CP/M programs, while at the same time being compatible with the MS-DOS disc format and FAT12 file structure (sub-directories etc.).

All peripherals are accessed through channels, which allows the programs to treat all input and output devices identically.

Enterprise does not include BASIC or any other programming language in its internal ROM, unlike most other home computers of the time.

IS-Basic has the usual commands for drawing dots, lines, circles and ellipses and for filling areas, and supports Logo-style turtle graphics.

[2] Several languages besides IS-BASIC, including Forth, Lisp, Pascal and assembly, were available on either ROM cartridge or tape.

[10] IS-DOS, the CP/M compatible operating system, opened access to the wide range of CP/M programs available at that time.

After the 1982 introduction of the ZX Spectrum, Hong Kong trading company Locumals commissioned Intelligent Software, headed by international chess player David Levy, to develop a home computer in the UK.

[3][11] Entersoft, modeled after Amstrad's AMSOFT, was set up to ensure a steady supply of software for the new machine.

Enterprise was announced to the press in September 1983, and some 80,000 machines were pre-ordered by the time of its April 1984 sales launch.

The product did not ship until 1985, by which point the UK home computer market was already dominated by the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and Acorn BBC Micro with the 16-bit era on the horizon.

A successor machine, the PW360, was developed in 1986 to compete against the Amstrad PCW 8256, but the company was by then in severe financial difficulties, and closed down.

The home computer market had changed greatly from the time from the machine was announced to its release date.

The hardware was still powerful for a home computer of the era, but there was a limited software catalogue and the price was higher than the competition.

Enterprise Computers UK and Intelligent Software collapsed by 1986 but a German subsidiary survived until 1997 and shipped remaining stock to various countries including Egypt, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic but most notably to Hungary.

Hungary was then part of the Eastern Bloc which was subject to export controls and the TVC lacked the specialist Nick and Dave chips.

Unsold Enterprise 128 stock though was imported into Hungary in 1987 (despite controls) and the machine became popular in the country, remaining on sale until around 1992.