Kildall, Gary, 1942-1994.Control Program/Microcomputers or CP/M
http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/kildall.html
Gary Kildall
OverviewGary Kildall created the first computer operating system to see popular use. Known as Control Program/Microcomputers or CP/M, this program controlled how information was stored and retrieved on a personal computer (PC). Although extremely popular when released, the program eventually lost out to Microsoft DOS through bad luck, bad timing, or bad judgment, depending on which story you hear.
Gary Kildall was born on May 19, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. While in school, he worked and taught at the family business-- Kildall Nautical School. In high school he began tinkering with everything from automobiles to tape recorders. At the University of Washington, he earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics, then did a stint in the U.S. Navy where he taught computer programming at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He returned to the University of Washington for a master’s in computing, and, in 1972, a Ph.D. in computer science while he continued teaching for the Navy. In 1973, while doing some work for Intel Corporation, he saw the need for and created a basic operating system that could accept and interpret operator commands using less than 4 K of memory. He called his new program CP/M for Control Program/Monitor. (In later years, the initials came to stand for Control Program/Microprocessor or Microcomputer.) The purpose of the operating system was to control the storage and retrieval of information on floppy disks. Intel didn’t see any use for Kildall’s program so it gave the rights to Kildall.
Kildall began selling CP/M through mail orders generated by advertisements in early computer magazines. Then, in 1974, he and his wife, Dorothy McEwen, formed a company called Intergalactic Digital Research. (The name was soon changed to Digital Research Intergalactic, then Digital Research, Inc.) CP/M proved to be just what was needed for the birth of the personal computer in 1975 and sales jumped astronomically. By 1977, Kildall resigned his teaching position at the naval school and devoted full time to his business.
Also in 1974, Kildall and Gordon Eubanks, CEO of Symantec, helped form the Home Brew Computer Club in the Silicon Valley. The Home Brew Club became a haven for those interested in computer developments. Whether they were high school kids or CEOs, all were welcome and the exchange of information, software, and hardware expertise helped fuel the growth of the industry.
Over the next few years, CP/M was being used on virtually every PC in existence. As the industry grew, so did Digital Research’s sales, recorded at $5.4 million in 1981. But 1981 was to prove to be the year that saw the beginning of CP/M’s demise. In 1980, IBM was developing its first line of PCs, but had not settled on an operating system for its new computers. This is where the stories and rumors start to fly, but the story appears to go like this. IBM contacted Kildall about using CP/M on its PCs while also contracting with a small company known as Microsoft to help it develop a BASIC system for its new computers. Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft felt that CP/M was probably the best bet for IBM, but it would need to be upgraded to work on 16-bit machines. Gates and IBM contacted Digital Research about doing the work to CP/M that would be necessary, but Kildall would not commit to meet the dates required by IBM for the product.
Gates and Allen then decided to buy the rights to another operating system called QDOS (Quick ‘n’ Dirty Operating System) that Seattle Computer Products had been developing for Intel’s 16-bit microprocessor. Microsoft made the adjustments necessary to make this system work on the 16-bit IBM PCs and renamed it MS-DOS. Although at first IBM sold PCs with either CP/M or MS-DOS, the less-expensive and easier to use MS-DOS soon won out. The rest, as they say, is history. IBM’s PCs with MS-DOS became immensely popular and their open architecture opened the way for a myriad of companies to create IBM clones. And many chose to use MS-DOS. Although Digital Research continued promoting CP/M, recording sales of $44.6 million in 1983, it was beginning to lose ground to MS-DOS. When Lotus created its popular spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3 to work only on MS-DOS, CP/M lost the rest of its support with programmers, hardware vendors, and consumers.
In addition to his duties as chairman of the board at Digital Research, Kildall started a new company in 1985, called Knowledge-Set, to develop one of the first consumer applications for CD-ROMs, the storage of huge amounts of information on compact discs. One of its first projects was publication of Grolier’s Encyclopedia in CD-ROM format. He sold his majority interest in that company and tried his hand at producing commercials and videos for the computer industry in a company called Video Design Group. In 1991, Digital Research was sold to Novell and Kildall dropped out of sight for a few years. He moved from the silicon valley area of California to a small town near Austin, Texas. In Austin, Kildall began leading and funding efforts to help pediatric AIDS victims.
Gary Kildall died unexpectedly in 1994 in Monterey, California at the age of 52. At the time, he was living in Pebble Beach, California. Although CP/M eventually lost out to MS-DOS, it and Gary Kildall retain their place in history as the inventors of the first commercially successful operating system for microcomputers.
Gary Kildall
Overview
Gary Kildall created the first computer operating system to see popular use. Known as Control Program/Microcomputers or CP/M, this program controlled how information was stored and retrieved on a personal computer (PC). Although extremely popular when released, the program eventually lost out to Microsoft DOS through bad luck, bad timing, or bad judgment, depending on which story you hear.
Gary Kildall was born on May 19, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. While in school, he worked and taught at the family business-- Kildall Nautical School. In high school he began tinkering with everything from automobiles to tape recorders. At the University of Washington, he earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics, then did a stint in the U.S. Navy where he taught computer programming at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He returned to the University of Washington for a master’s in computing, and, in 1972, a Ph.D. in computer science while he continued teaching for the Navy. In 1973, while doing some work for Intel Corporation, he saw the need for and created a basic operating system that could accept and interpret operator commands using less than 4 K of memory. He called his new program CP/M for Control Program/Monitor. (In later years, the initials came to stand for Control Program/Microprocessor or Microcomputer.) The purpose of the operating system was to control the storage and retrieval of information on floppy disks. Intel didn’t see any use for Kildall’s program so it gave the rights to Kildall.
Kildall began selling CP/M through mail orders generated by advertisements in early computer magazines. Then, in 1974, he and his wife, Dorothy McEwen, formed a company called Intergalactic Digital Research. (The name was soon changed to Digital Research Intergalactic, then Digital Research, Inc.) CP/M proved to be just what was needed for the birth of the personal computer in 1975 and sales jumped astronomically. By 1977, Kildall resigned his teaching position at the naval school and devoted full time to his business.
Also in 1974, Kildall and Gordon Eubanks, CEO of Symantec, helped form the Home Brew Computer Club in the Silicon Valley. The Home Brew Club became a haven for those interested in computer developments. Whether they were high school kids or CEOs, all were welcome and the exchange of information, software, and hardware expertise helped fuel the growth of the industry.
Over the next few years, CP/M was being used on virtually every PC in existence. As the industry grew, so did Digital Research’s sales, recorded at $5.4 million in 1981. But 1981 was to prove to be the year that saw the beginning of CP/M’s demise. In 1980, IBM was developing its first line of PCs, but had not settled on an operating system for its new computers. This is where the stories and rumors start to fly, but the story appears to go like this. IBM contacted Kildall about using CP/M on its PCs while also contracting with a small company known as Microsoft to help it develop a BASIC system for its new computers. Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft felt that CP/M was probably the best bet for IBM, but it would need to be upgraded to work on 16-bit machines. Gates and IBM contacted Digital Research about doing the work to CP/M that would be necessary, but Kildall would not commit to meet the dates required by IBM for the product.
Gates and Allen then decided to buy the rights to another operating system called QDOS (Quick ‘n’ Dirty Operating System) that Seattle Computer Products had been developing for Intel’s 16-bit microprocessor. Microsoft made the adjustments necessary to make this system work on the 16-bit IBM PCs and renamed it MS-DOS. Although at first IBM sold PCs with either CP/M or MS-DOS, the less-expensive and easier to use MS-DOS soon won out. The rest, as they say, is history. IBM’s PCs with MS-DOS became immensely popular and their open architecture opened the way for a myriad of companies to create IBM clones. And many chose to use MS-DOS. Although Digital Research continued promoting CP/M, recording sales of $44.6 million in 1983, it was beginning to lose ground to MS-DOS. When Lotus created its popular spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3 to work only on MS-DOS, CP/M lost the rest of its support with programmers, hardware vendors, and consumers.
In addition to his duties as chairman of the board at Digital Research, Kildall started a new company in 1985, called Knowledge-Set, to develop one of the first consumer applications for CD-ROMs, the storage of huge amounts of information on compact discs. One of its first projects was publication of Grolier’s Encyclopedia in CD-ROM format. He sold his majority interest in that company and tried his hand at producing commercials and videos for the computer industry in a company called Video Design Group. In 1991, Digital Research was sold to Novell and Kildall dropped out of sight for a few years. He moved from the silicon valley area of California to a small town near Austin, Texas. In Austin, Kildall began leading and funding efforts to help pediatric AIDS victims.
Gary Kildall died unexpectedly in 1994 in Monterey, California at the age of 52. At the time, he was living in Pebble Beach, California. Although CP/M eventually lost out to MS-DOS, it and Gary Kildall retain their place in history as the inventors of the first commercially successful operating system for microcomputers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cortada, James W. "Historical Dictionary of Data Processing—Biographies" Greenwood Press, Inc., Westport, Connecticut, 1987
Seymour, Jim "Gary Kildall’s legacy casts a long shadow" PC Week, August 1, 1994
"Died, Gary Kildall" Time, July 25, 1994
"Gary Kildall; His Software System Lost to Rival MS-DOS" Los Angeles Times (Home Edition) July 15, 1994, pA-18
Fiorini, Phillip "Computer programming pioneer Kildall dies at 52" USA Today, July 14, 1994, p02
Callahan, Mike & Anis, Nick "Dr. File Finder’s Guide to Shareware" Osborne McGraw-Hill, Berkeley, California, 1990