After seeing the instant success of the Altair others would soon jump on the band wagon. One of the first to do so was Bill Millard who founded IMS Associates. The computer they designed was very similar to the Altair 8800 with some improvements.

The IMSAI 8080 was the very first micro computer shipped fully assembled and ready to go. Prior to this product you had to buy a kit and 'roll your own'. They were the top seller in the industry in 1977 and were bankrupt in 1979.

The IMSAI 8080 used an Intel 8080A processor running at approx. 2 MHz, and came with 4K RAM. Input/output was through front panel switches and LED's, without additional peripherals. It had an S-100 bus with 22 expansion slots.