Commodore 64

From Wikipedia;

"The Commodore 64, commonly called C64, C=64 (after the graphic logo on the case), occasionally CBM 64 (for Commodore Business Machines), or VIC-64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. Due to changes in the computing industry since its release, it remains the highest selling computer of all time. This claim is disputed, because various changes were made to the "Commodore 64", making the CP/M plug in cartridge incompatible with all but some 1982 production models, as well as the computer being revamped and placed into a new case, then its name changed to Commodore 64C, indicating that there were at least 3 different models in this range of computers.

Volume production started in early 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$ 595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes (65,536 bytes) of RAM, and had favorable sound and graphical specifications when compared to contemporary systems such as the Apple II, at a price that was well below the circa US$1200 demanded by Apple, but the same couldn't be said of the Tandy Color Computer, which was initially priced at $399.

For a substantial period (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year, outselling the IBM PC compatibles, Apple Inc. computers, and the Atari 8-bit family of computers. Sam Tramiel, a later Atari president and the son of Commodore's founder, said in a 1989 interview, "When I was at Commodore we were building 400,000 C64s a month for a couple of years."

Part of its success was because it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost. It is sometimes compared to the Ford Model T automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via creative mass-production.

Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office productivity applications, and games. C64 emulators allow anyone with a modern computer, or a compatible video game console, to run these programs today. The C64 is also credited with popularizing the computer demoscene and is still used today by some computer hobbyists."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64

Emulators for this platform include;

VICE - WinVICE nightly builds
Hoxs64 by David Horrocks for Windows 10.
Virtual C64 by Dirk W. Hoffmann for Mac OS

Useful links;

Description of C64 Graphics Modes