Digital Research - Home

Home About Us CP/M Software DR Contact Us

Intel: Smaller, Faster
Microsoft Defeat in EU Court Rewrites Rules
Microsoft's Big European Defeat: What Now?
Free IBM Software Is Bid to Challenge Microsoft Office
DR Flex/OS Now IBM 4690 Operating System

Tom Rolander - Gary Kildall in OS War
Tom Rolander - Walking Tour of Pacific Grove Where CP/M was Invented

MS-DOS Paternity Suit Settled- Gary Kildall Vindicated
Groklaw - For History's Sake: Paterson v. Little Brown
Groklaw - Caldera, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation Documents
Computer Chronicles - Gary Kildall Special Video
CP/M & The Birth of PC Networking at Novell
The CP/M Web Site

Virtual OS Watch

Digital Research was at the forefront of pioneering Virtual Operating Systems in the early 1980s with Concurrent DOS, REAL/32, and Flex/OS, all of which became fully available commercial products. Flex/OS supported full graphics and was the most advanced OS developed by DR. In 2007, Virtual Operating Systems are at the forefront of the most exciting news in the computer industry. Citrix is a major player with its MetaFrame software bring in about 1ドル Billion per year enabling virtualization of Windows based on licensed OS code from Microsoft in conjunction with proprietary Citrix code. VMware made major news in mid-August 2007 by going public and becoming an almost 20ドル billion company overnight with its Virtual OS implementation to enable running multiple operating systems as a subset of its proprietary OS implementation. Less well known a player, XenSource was acquired by Citrix Systems for 500ドル million in mid-August 2007, and offers a unique approach to OS virtualization. Microsoft is also presently development various Virtual OS software. Certain SCO UNIX versions support Virtual OS operations. The Open Source (free) Virtual OS manager QEMU enables running multiple Operating Systems including Windows and DOS and emulates a complete computer system including processor and peripherals and fully supports WINE (Sun MS Windows emulation) and DOSEMU for running DOS programs along with other operating systems such as UNIX and Linux. Digital Research Operating Systems can be run currently within a Virtual OS which makes watching these Virtual OS developments of great interest. IBM, of course, created Virtual Computing with its VM software for their 360 mainframes in the 1960s. IBM's current advanced version of Virtual OS software is zVM. No matter how much changes in computing, it all comes back to IBM -- the greatest pioneer ever in computing.

IBM QEMU VMware Citrix Sun Microsoft Novell SCO XenSource

Tim Paterson's View - Is DOS a Rip-Off of CP/M?

Digital Research CP/M Code & Information

Wikipedia - Digital Research

Wikipedia - Gary Kildall

Dorothy McEwen Memorial Service at The Holman Ranch
February 5, 2005 2:00--4:00 pm

Dorothy McEwen, 61, passed away on January 31st, 2005 at her home with her family by her side after a long battle with brain cancer. She was born on March 3rd, 1943, in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Marion Strout and Gene McEwen.

In 1963, she married her high school sweetheart, Gary Kildall. She attended the University of Washington after high school. After a few years, she stopped and for the next several years, she worked to support her husband as he went to the same university. In 1969, Gary and Dorothy moved to the Monterey Peninsula. She gave birth to her son, Scott, in 1969 and to her daughter, Kristin, in 1971.

She was very active in her children's lives as well as in the community. She served on the Board of Directors for the Pacific Grove Heritage Society and the Intersea Foundation. She also volunteered at the Pacific Grove Art Center, the Suicide Prevention Center, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Pacific Grove Unified School District.

In 1974, she co-founded Digital Research, Inc., with her husband, Dr. Gary A. Kildall. Her husband had spent years developing CP/M, the first commercial operating system for personal computers and Dorothy was instrumental in bringing it to market. Their company sold and promoted the software, which gave life to a fledgling computer industry. With Dorothy in charge of the marketing and Gary working on the software code, Digital Research quickly grew in size. With her knack for creating a welcoming community, the employees of Digital Research were treated as an extended family.

Gary and Dorothy's efforts were critical in bringing computers to the home and widespread business use. In 1983, she and Gary permanently separated and later were divorced. In 1989, she bought the then dilapidated Holman Ranch on a 400-acre plot of land and relocated to Carmel Valley. Over the course of 20 years, she rebuilt The Holman Ranch, transforming it into a beautiful site for weddings, corporate parties, photo shoots and charity events. She also built a state-of-the-art equestrian center with facilities for training, riding and boarding. With gorgeous landscaping and restored Spanish-style architecture, she dubbed the The Holman Ranch, a "heaven on earth" for many to enjoy.

Dorothy continued her community work in Carmel Valley. In response to the 1995 Carmel Valley floods, she co-founded the Carmel Valley Angel Project and the Community Thanksgiving. That same year, she received the Good Egg award by the Carmel Valley Chamber. She served on the boards of the Carmel Red Cross, Carmel Valley Recreation and Park District, Carmel Valley Chamber of Commerce and Animal Welfare Information and Assistance. She has also volunteered with the Carmel Valley Village Improvement Committee and the Carmel Valley Women's Club.

At The Holman Ranch, she hosted numerous fundraisers, including the "Great Bowls of Fire" Chili Cook-Off and the Carmel Valley Mother's Day Brunch. In 1998 she was honored as Woman of the Year of the Monterey Peninsula by Quota International. In 1999, she started the Senior's Program, further spreading joy to her community.

Dorothy was an avid traveler, a collector of antiques and a proud mother. She always maintained a good sense of humor even in adverse circumstances. She was well-loved by family and many friends. She is survived by her son, Scott Kildall, her daughter, Kristin Kildall, her brother, Richard Strout, and her mother, Marion Strout.

Remembrances may be sent to The Holman Ranch, P.O. Box 149, Carmel Valley, CA 93923. A memorial service will be held from 2-4pm on Saturday, February 5th at The Holman Ranch, 60 Holman Road, Carmel Valley, CA 93923 and you may call the Ranch at (831) 659-2640 or send email to Director@HolmanRanch.com for further information. [Please note that as of 2006 the Kildall family sold the Holman Ranch and that this address and contact information is no longer good for current contact.]

CP/M Prompt CP/M CP/M Prompt

Dr. Gary A. Kildall

In Memory of Dr. Gary A. Kildall

All of the products above would not have been possible without the valiant and brilliant work of the founder of Digital Research, the late Dr. Gary A. Kildall. On July 11, 1994, Gary Kildall passed away following a blow to his head at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill in Monterey, California on July 8, 1994. At the time of his death, Gary was 52. He was born in 1942, a few years before the first electronic computer even existed, and his software made possible PC computing as we know it at the turn of the 20th century. He is survived by a son, Scott, and a daughter, Kristin. His former wife, Dorothy McEwen (Kildall), with whom Gary co-founded Digital Research, Inc. in 1974, passed away on January 31, 2005.

Gary created the first Operating System for the microprocessor, CP/M. The most advanced current version of CP/M as of 1999 was IMS Ltd. REAL/32. CP/M also serves as the basis of all modern DOS versions including the outstanding Caldera DR DOS and other derivitaves including PC-DOS from IBM, and MS-DOS from Microsoft, whose position in the computer industry is based on its unauthorized 1981 "cloning"of Dr. Gary Kildall's Digital Research CP/M, which gave birth to the IBM PC standard upon which Microsoft MS-DOS, Windows CE, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 are based today.

On July 23, 1996, Caldera Inc. acquired the entire assets of Digital Research Inc. from Novell Inc. and on July 24, 1996 filed an Antitrust Lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation. The Final Version of this suit was ultimately settled in Caldera's favor in January 2000 prior to going to trial in Utah. Gary never wanted to file suit against Microsoft because he always believed that in the end excellence in programming would win in the marketplace. We continue Gary's belief.

All of us who knew and loved Gary are dedicated to continuing his work, his dreams, and his collegial sharing and caring about people, while working to open new frontiers in software research and development for the benefit of all. The Digital Research family remains strong. Gary forever changed computing by laying the foundation for popular PC operating systems. Most importantly, Gary was the greatest teacher any of us who knew him and his work could ever have had.