Digital Research

Digital Research, Inc.

Original headquarters of Digital Research on 801 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove, California. On the sidewalk, to the left, is a commemorative plaque.

Type| Private[1]
Industry| Software
Fate| Acquired by Novell
Founded| 1974; 52 years ago (1974) in Pacific Grove, California, U.S.
Founder| Gary Kildall
Defunct| 1991; 35 years ago (1991)
Headquarters|

* Pacific Grove, California
* Monterey, California

Key people

* Gary Kildall (CEO)
* Dorothy McEwen Kildall
* Gordon Eubanks
* Tom Rolander
* Kathryn Strutynski
* Ed McCracken

Products| Compilers, 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

* 2 (1976)[5]
* 9 (November 1978)[5]
* 24 (August 1980)[5]
* ~82–100 (1981)[6]
* ~200 (summer 1982)[5]
* ~280 (1982)[6]
* 530 (1983)[6]
* ~500 (1984)[6][7]
* ~300 (1985)[7][8]
* 240 (1986)[8]
* 273 (1990)[3]
* 290 (1991)[4]

Website| www.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.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 1974–1979: Founding and incorporation
* 1.2 1980–1990: CP/M, CP/M-86
* 1.3 Graphics Environment Manager (1985)
* 1.4 FlexOS, Concurrent DOS XM and Concurrent DOS 386
* 1.5 1990 and 1991: Multiuser DOS
* 2 1991–2014: Acquisition by Novell
* 3 Notable employees
* 4 Acquisitions
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 Further reading
* 8 External links

## History

Template:Pic

### 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.

In 1974 he incorporated as Intergalactic Digital Research, with his wife handling the business side of the operation.[10] The company soon began operating under its shortened name Digital Research.[10] The company's operating systems, starting with CP/M for 8080/Z80-based microcomputers, were the de facto standard of their era. Digital Research's product suite included the original 8-bit CP/M and its various offshoots like MP/M (1979), a multi-tasking multi-user version of CP/M.[11]

### 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.[12] The company's documentation had a poor reputation, with Jerry Pournelle in 1982 describing it as seemingly "encrypted and translated into Swahili".[13] and InfoWorld calling its CP/M manuals incomplete, incomprehensible, and poorly indexed.[14]

By 1983, DRI began using distributors to sell its CP/M-86 applications in stores.[15] In May 1983 the company announced that it would offer PC DOS versions of all of its languages and utilities.[16] 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.[17] 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."[18]

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.

At the time the IBM Personal Computer was being developed, Digital Research's CP/M was the dominant operating system of the day. In 1980, IBM asked Digital Research to supply a version of CP/M written for the Intel 8086 microprocessor as the standard operating system for the PC, which would use the code-compatible Intel 8088 chip. Digital Research, uneasy about the conditions related to making such an agreement with IBM, refused.[19]

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,[20] and from the point of view of Gary Kildall's friends and coworkers in The Computer Chronicles.[21]

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.[22]

Successive revisions of Concurrent CP/M incorporated MS-DOS API emulation (since 1983), which gradually added more support for DOS applications and the FAT file system. These versions were named Concurrent DOS (1984), with Concurrent PC DOS (1984) being the version adapted to run on IBM compatible PCs.[23]

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.

Other single-user operative systems were launched: DOS Plus (1985) and DR DOS (1988). The latter system was marketed as a direct MS-DOS/PC DOS replacement with added functionality. In order to achieve this, it gave up built-in support to run CP/M applications and was changed to use DOS-compatible internal structures. It became a successful product line in itself.[24]

### 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.

Digital Research (and later its successor Caldera) accused Microsoft of announcing vaporware versions of MS-DOS to suppress sales of DR DOS.[25]

### FlexOS, Concurrent DOS XM and Concurrent DOS 386

Concurrent PC DOS later evolved into the modular FlexOS (1986). This exploited the greater memory addressing capability of the new CPU to provide a more flexible multi-tasking environment. There was a small but powerful set of system APIs, each with a synchronous and an asynchronous variant. Pipes were supported, and all named resources could be aliased by setting environment variables. This system was to enjoy enduring favour in point-of-sale systems.[26]

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

### 1990 and 1991: Multiuser DOS

Template:Pic In 1991 DR presented Multiuser DOS. Digital Research's multi-user family of operating systems was sidelined with the previous single user operative systems.[27]

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.[28][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,[29] 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:

* Gary Kildall
* Kathryn Strutynski
* Gordon Eubanks
* Tom Rolander
* Edward R. McCracken

## Acquisitions

* Compiler Systems, Inc. (1981) for CBASIC[30]
* 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 Dialogue/01x01 198208 Digital Dialogue.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. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "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. ↑ "Early Digital Research CP/M Source Code". Computer History Museum. 1 October 2014. https://computerhistory.org/blog/early-digital-research-cpm-source-code/.
12. ↑ "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.
13. ↑ 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.
14. ↑ 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.
15. ↑ "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.
16. ↑ "The New View From Digital Research". PC Magazine: 403. July 1983. https://books.google.com/books?id=V2588uIxmAQC&pg=PA403. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
17. ↑ "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.
18. ↑ "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.
19. ↑ "The Rise of DOS: How Microsoft Got the IBM PC OS Contract". PCMag. https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-rise-of-dos-how-microsoft-got-the-ibm-pc-os-contract.
20. ↑ Triumph of the Nerds, PBS
21. ↑ "Gary Kildall Special". https://archive.org/details/GaryKild.
22. ↑ "Microsoft Settles Case With Justice". The Washington Post. 1994-07-17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/stories/1994/settle071794.htm.
23. ↑ "The many derivatives of the CP/M operating system". The Register. 4 August 2022. https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/04/the_many_derivatives_of_cpm/.
24. ↑ "The many derivatives of the CP/M operating system". The Register. 4 August 2022. https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/04/the_many_derivatives_of_cpm/.
25. ↑ "Dos 5 vapourware campaign: 'I am not a crook,' says MS exec". The Register. 5 November 1999. https://www.theregister.com/1999/11/05/dos_5_vapourware_campaign/.
26. ↑ "The many derivatives of the CP/M operating system". The Register. 4 August 2022. https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/04/the_many_derivatives_of_cpm/.
27. ↑ "The many derivatives of the CP/M operating system". The Register. 4 August 2022. https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/04/the_many_derivatives_of_cpm/.
28. ↑ "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.
29. ↑ 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.."
30. ↑ "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 Research News/01x01 1981 Digital Research News.pdf. Retrieved 2020-01-18.

## Further reading

* "Digital Research - The Untold Story". 1996-10-18. http://www.ctyme.com/dri.htm. [6][Usurped!][7][Usurped!][8][Usurped!] (NB. Marc Perkel claimed to have inspired Novell in February 1991 to buy Digital Research and develop something he called "NovOS".)
* "Gary Kildall Conference Room" Dedication Ceremony. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). 2017-04-21. https://ethw.org/w/images/a/a8/GaryKildallConferenceRoomDedication(21-April-17).pdf. Retrieved 2020-02-25. (18 pages)

## External links

* Digital Research's history website
* Various Digital Research manuals
* Joe Wein's page on Digital Research
* Intel iPDS-100 Using CP/M-Video[Usurped!]

* v
* t
* e

Digital Research

People|

* Gary Kildall
* Gordon Eubanks
* Tom Rolander
* Edward R. McCracken

Products|

| Programming languages|

* PL/M
* CBASIC
* Dr. Logo
* Dr. Scheme
* Atari Pascal
* Pascal/MT+

|

Programs and Technology|

* BatteryMAX
* CMD file
* COM file
* DOS Protected Mode Services
* Dynamic Debugging Tool
* File Control Block
* GEM
* GEM character set
* Peripheral Interchange Program
* Resource construction set
* ViewMAX
* XLT86
* Zero page

Operating systems|

* CP/M
* CP/M-86
* DOS Plus
* DR-DOS
* FlexOS
* IMDOS
* MP/M
* Multiuser DOS

Related|

* CPMulator
* Star Trek project
* List of computers running CP/M

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