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Digital Research

Topic: Company

 From HandWiki - Reading time: 9 min

Digital Research, Inc.
TypePrivate[1]
IndustrySoftware
FateAcquired by Novell
Founded1974; 52 years ago (1974) in Pacific Grove, California, U.S.
FounderGary Kildall
Defunct1991; 35 years ago (1991)
Headquarters
  • Pacific Grove, California
  • Monterey, California
Key people
ProductsCompilers, operating systems, graphical user interfaces
Revenue
  • US$45 million (1983)[2]
  • US$36.2 million (1989)[3]
  • US$40.9 million (1990)[3]
  • US$45.5 million (1991)[4]
Number of employees
Websitewww.digitalresearch.biz

Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, DOS Plus, DR DOS and GEM. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world.[9] Digital Research was originally based in Pacific Grove, California, later in Monterey, California.

History

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1974–1979: Founding and incorporation

In 1972, Gary Kildall, an instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, began working at Intel as a consultant under the business name Microcomputer Applications Associates (MAA).[10] By 1974, he had developed Control Program/Monitor, or CP/M, the first disk operating system for microcomputers.


1980–1990: CP/M, CP/M-86

After Microsoft presented MS-DOS that was based on CP/M, Digital Research released CP/M-86, which was the first 16-bit system (1981, adapted to the IBM PC in early 1982), which was meant as direct competitor to MS-DOS. There followed the multi-tasking MP/M-86 (1981), and Concurrent CP/M (1982), a single-user version featuring virtual consoles from which applications could be launched to run concurrently.[11] The company's documentation had a poor reputation, with Jerry Pournelle in 1982 describing it as seemingly "encrypted and translated into Swahili".[12] and InfoWorld calling its CP/M manuals incomplete, incomprehensible, and poorly indexed.[13]

By 1983, DRI began using distributors to sell its CP/M-86 applications in stores.[14] In May 1983 the company announced that it would offer PC DOS versions of all of its languages and utilities.[15] It remained influential, with US$45 million in 1983 sales making Digital Research the fourth-largest microcomputer software company.[2] Admitting that it had "lost" the 8088 software market but hoped to succeed with the Intel 80286 and Motorola 68000, by 1984 the company formed a partnership with AT&T Corporation to develop software for Unix System V and sell its own and third-party products in retail stores.[16] Pournelle warned later that year, however, that "Many people of stature seem to have left or are leaving Digital Research. DR had better get its act together."[17]

In a parallel development Digital Research also produced a selection of programming language compilers and interpreters for their OS-supported platforms, including C, Pascal, COBOL, FORTRAN, PL/I, PL/M, CBASIC, BASIC, and Logo.

Digital Research developed CP/M-86 as an alternative to MS-DOS and it was made available through IBM in early 1982. The company later created an MS-DOS clone with advanced features called DR DOS, which pressured Microsoft to further improve its own DOS.


Microsoft seized this opportunity to supply an OS, in addition to other software (e.g., BASIC) for the new IBM PC. When the IBM PC arrived in late 1981, it came with PC DOS, an OEM version of MS-DOS, which was developed from 86-DOS, which Microsoft had acquired for this purpose. By mid-1982, MS-DOS was also marketed for use in hardware-compatible non-IBM computers. This one decision resulted in Microsoft becoming the leading name in computer software.

This story is detailed from the point of view of Microsoft and IBM in the PBS series Triumph of the Nerds,[18] and from the point of view of Gary Kildall's friends and coworkers in The Computer Chronicles.[19]

The competition between MS-DOS and DR DOS is one of the more controversial chapters of microcomputer history. Microsoft offered better licensing terms to any computer manufacturer that committed to selling MS-DOS with every system they shipped, making it uneconomical for them to offer systems with another OS, since the manufacturer would still be required to pay a license fee to Microsoft for that system. This practice led to a US Department of Justice investigation, resulting in a decision in 1994 that barred Microsoft from "per-processor" licensing.[20]


In 1985, soon after the introduction of the 80286-based IBM PC/AT, Digital Research introduced a real-time system, initially called Concurrent DOS 286.


Graphics Environment Manager (1985)

Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) Graphic User Interface (GUI) in 1985

In 1985 Digital Research also produced a microcomputer version of the GKS graphics standard (related to NAPLPS) called GSX, and later used this as the basis of their GEM GUI. Less known are their application programs, limited largely to the GSX-based DR DRAW and a small suite of GUI programs for GEM. After the development of GEM, Microsoft introduced Windows 1.0.


FlexOS, Concurrent DOS XM and Concurrent DOS 386

Other successors of Concurrent DOS were Concurrent DOS XM (1986) and the 32-bit Concurrent DOS 386 (1987).

1990 and 1991: Multiuser DOS

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In one beta release of Windows 3.1, Microsoft included hidden code (later called the AARD code) that detected DR DOS and displayed a cryptic error message.[21][4]

1991–2014: Acquisition by Novell

See also: Software:FlexOS, Novell, and Caldera (company)

Digital Research was purchased by Novell for US$80 million in 1991,[22] primarily for Novell to gain access to their operating system line, including FlexOS, which had already been adopted as the basis for Siemens S5-DOS/MT, IBM 4680 OS, and the 4690 OS.

Notable employees

Several notable employees worked at Digital Research, some of which later made important contributions to the IT industry, such as:

Acquisitions

  • Compiler Systems, Inc. (1981) for CBASIC[23]
  • MT MicroSYSTEMS, Inc. (1981) for Pascal/MT+

See also

  • Multiuser DOS Federation
  • Novell Digital Research Systems Group
  • Caldera Digital Research Systems Group

References

  1. ↑ "PC Software Maker Novell To Buy Digital Research". The New York Times: p. 8. 1991-07-17. Section D. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/17/business/pc-software-maker-novell-to-buy-digital-research.html?mcubz=0. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Company Strategies Boomerang". InfoWorld - The Newsweekly for Microcomputer Users (Popular Computing, Inc.) 6 (14): pp. 80–83. 1984-04-02. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=kC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Novell and Digital Research sign definitive merger agreement". Business Wire. 1991-07-17. http://tech-insider.org/personal-computers/research/1991/0717.html. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Undocumented DOS: A programmer's guide to reserved MS-DOS functions and data structures - expanded to include MS-DOS 6, Novell DOS and Windows 3.1 (2 ed.). Addison Wesley. 1994. pp. 11, 182–183. ISBN 0-201-63287-X. https://archive.org/details/undocumenteddosp00andr_0/page/11.  (xviii+856+vi pages, 3.5-inch floppy) Errata: [1][Usurped!][2][Usurped!]
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Rapid expansion marks DRI history". Digital Dialogue (Digital Research) 1 (1): pp. 7–8. August 1982. https://amaus.net/static/S100/software/DRI/Digital%20Dialogue/01x01%20198208%20Digital%20Dialogue.pdf.  [3][Usurped!][4][Usurped!][5][Usurped!]
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Digital Research Rebounds - New products are leading the software maker's resurgence". InfoWorld - The Newsweekly for Microcomputer Users (Popular Computing, Inc., CW Communications Inc.) 6 (17): pp. 56–57. 1984-04-23. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=hy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Cash-short Digital Research cuts staff, seeks investors". Computerworld - The Newsweekly for the Computer Community (Monterey, California, USA: CW Communications, Inc.) XIX (30): p. 72. 1985-07-29. ISSN 0010-4841. https://books.google.com/books?id=2Huij24Zmr0C&pg=PA72. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Digital Research tighens belt with layoffs, reorganization - Realign business units, product lines". Computerworld - The Newsweekly for the Computer Community (Monterey, California, USA: CW Communications, Inc.) XX (43): p. 95. 1986-10-27. ISSN 0010-4841. https://books.google.com/books?id=nI091j0HhhwC&pg=PA95. 
  9. ↑ "Gary Kildall and the Digital Research Success Story". InfoWorld - The Newspaper for the Microcomputing Community (Palo Alto, California, USA: Popular Computing, Inc.) 3 (10): pp. 52–53. 1981-05-25. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=3j4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52. 
  10. ↑ "Gary Kildall and Collegial Entrepreneurship". Dr. Dobb's Special Report. Spring 1997. http://www.digitalresearch.biz/DR/Gary/DDJ-GK02.HTM. Retrieved 2018-06-09. 
  11. ↑ "Running 8-bit software on dual-processor computers". Electronic Design: 157. 1982-09-16. http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2016/12/102762506-05-01-acc.pdf. Retrieved 2017-08-19. 
  12. ↑ Pournelle, Jerry (May 1982). "Supercalc, Spelling Programs, BASIC Compilers, and Home-Grown Accounting". BYTE: 226. https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n227/mode/1up?view=theater. Retrieved 2024-12-28. 
  13. ↑ Hogan, Thom (March 3, 1981). "Microsoft's Z80 SoftCard". InfoWorld (Popular Computing) 3 (4): 20–21. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=jT4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT14. 
  14. ↑ "Appendix II; Distribution strategies of selected software vendors". The Rosen Electronics Letter: pp. 21-24. 1983-02-22. https://cdn.oreillystatic.com/radar/r1/02-83.pdf. 
  15. ↑ "The New View From Digital Research". PC Magazine: 403. July 1983. https://books.google.com/books?id=V2588uIxmAQC&pg=PA403. Retrieved 2013-10-21. 
  16. ↑ "New developments may decide battle over Unix". InfoWorld - The Newsweekly for Microcomputer Users (Popular Computing, Inc.) 6 (8): pp. 43–45. 1984-02-20. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=hS4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43. 
  17. ↑ "Program Editing Breakthrough!". BYTE: 326. March 1983. https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-03-rescan/1985_03_BYTE_10-03_Bargain_Computing#page/n339/mode/2up. Retrieved 2016-03-19. 
  18. ↑ Triumph of the Nerds, PBS
  19. ↑ "Gary Kildall Special". https://archive.org/details/GaryKild. 
  20. ↑ "Microsoft Settles Case With Justice". The Washington Post. 1994-07-17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/stories/1994/settle071794.htm. 
  21. ↑ "Examining the Windows AARD Detection Code - A serious message--and the code that produced it". Dr. Dobb's Journal (Miller Freeman, Inc.) 18 (9): 42, 44–48, 89. September 1993. #204. http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=1030/ddj9309d/9309d.htm. Retrieved 2013-10-05. 
  22. ↑ Archives, L. A. Times (1996-07-25). "Novell Founder Noorda Pushes Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft" (in en-US). https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-25-fi-27767-story.html. "Novell purchased Digital Research for $80 million in 1991 as part of Noorda's strategy to compete directly with Microsoft across a broad.." 
  23. ↑ "Compiler Systems Acquired; Language Division Formed Under Gordon Eubanks, Jr. - Digital Research Acquires Compiler Systems; Will Now Provide the Microcomputer Industry with One-stop Shopping for Total Systems Support". Digital Research News - for Digital Research Users Everywhere (Pacific Grove, California, USA: Digital Research, Inc.) 1 (1): 1, 7. November 1981. Fourth Quarter. https://amaus.net/static/S100/software/DRI/Digital%20Research%20News/01x01%201981%20Digital%20Research%20News.pdf. Retrieved 2020-01-18. 

Further reading



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