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Cyhist Jul 22 1996 A
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Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 23:16:43 -0700
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From: "Peter D. Junger" To: "Multiple recipients of list cpsr-history@cpsr.org" Subject: CM> "Vaporware" & MS-DOS.
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Sender: "Peter D. Junger" Subject: Re: CM> "Vaporware" & MS-DOS.
Community Memory writes:
:
: Sender: Ersatzzz@aol.com
: Subject: the vapors
:
:
: hasn't the tale now passed into legend
: about how Gates and his partner told IBM
: that they had an operating system ready for
: their forthcoming PC, and that it just needed
: a little tinkering... and then wrote DOS in a
: matter of months, thus getting in on the
: ground floor with a non-existant product, and
: deterring IBM from looking elsewhere?
I don't know what Gates and Co. told IBM, but MSDOS and PCDOS was
purchased by Microsoft from a small company--the original DOS was a
quick and dirty rip-off for the 8086/8088 of CP/M for the 8080, 8085,
and Z80. The original IBM PC was announced as coming with three
operating systems: CP/M, PCDOS, and the P-system that was used with a
semi-compiled version of Pascal. (I don't remember ever coming across
the P-system and don't remember much about it.)
To me the really interesting bit of history has to do with the failure
of Digital Research's CP/M to become the standard operating system for
the PC. By the time the PC came out, Digital Research had MP/M, a
multi-tasking OS that was infinitely better than the original PCDOS.
If anyone knows the true story of why CP/M lost out I certainly would
like to hear it.
--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
Internet: junger@pdj2-ra.f-remote.cwru.edu junger@samsara.law.cwru.edu
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: cpsr-history@Sunnyside.COM
Originator: cpsr-history@cpsr.org
Sender: listserv-reply-errors@Sunnyside.COM
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From: "Peter D. Junger" To: "Multiple recipients of list cpsr-history@cpsr.org" Subject: CM> "Vaporware" & MS-DOS.
X-Listprocessor-Version: 9.1 -- List Server by Sunnyside Computing, Inc.
X-Comment: Discussion of history of computing
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X-Message-Id: <1358549818602.LTK.013@cpsr.org>
X-UIDL: 838134740.031
Sender: "Peter D. Junger" Subject: Re: CM> "Vaporware" & MS-DOS.
Community Memory writes:
:
: Sender: Ersatzzz@aol.com
: Subject: the vapors
:
:
: hasn't the tale now passed into legend
: about how Gates and his partner told IBM
: that they had an operating system ready for
: their forthcoming PC, and that it just needed
: a little tinkering... and then wrote DOS in a
: matter of months, thus getting in on the
: ground floor with a non-existant product, and
: deterring IBM from looking elsewhere?
I don't know what Gates and Co. told IBM, but MSDOS and PCDOS was
purchased by Microsoft from a small company--the original DOS was a
quick and dirty rip-off for the 8086/8088 of CP/M for the 8080, 8085,
and Z80. The original IBM PC was announced as coming with three
operating systems: CP/M, PCDOS, and the P-system that was used with a
semi-compiled version of Pascal. (I don't remember ever coming across
the P-system and don't remember much about it.)
To me the really interesting bit of history has to do with the failure
of Digital Research's CP/M to become the standard operating system for
the PC. By the time the PC came out, Digital Research had MP/M, a
multi-tasking OS that was infinitely better than the original PCDOS.
If anyone knows the true story of why CP/M lost out I certainly would
like to hear it.
--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
Internet: junger@pdj2-ra.f-remote.cwru.edu junger@samsara.law.cwru.edu
______________________________________________________________________
