[2] The creation of the Micro-80 prototype began in 1978, when a package from the Kiev NPO Kristall arrived at the Moscow Institute of Electronic Machine Building (MIEM) by mistake.

Initially, there was no ROM at all, and when the computer was turned on cold (as in one of the first American microcomputers Altair 8800 of 1975), it was necessary to manually enter the program for loading the block from punched tape with toggle switches.

When i2708 chips (UV-ROM 1K×8) became available some time after the computer was running, they were used to store the ROM-BIOS and the monitor, eliminating the need to constantly load them from punched tape.

[2] Popov developed a text video adapter that works on a conventional household TV and a keyboard read through the PPA KR580VV55, which eliminated the bulky industrial terminal.

Letters began to come to the editors of the Radio magazine with requests to simplify the design of the Micro-80 and, to facilitate assembly, develop printed circuit boards for it.