Kudos from QDOS
In 1980, IBM were attempting to put together a PC, code-named Acorn, aimed at the Personal Computer market. This would prove to be a pivotal event in the development of the PC.
IBM's mainframe business relied strongly on the in-house production of hardware and software. The PC entry had to be different. A twelve month time constraint had been placed upon the project. It was therefore a practical neccessity to source the hardware and software from outside suppliers. The strict time limit did not allow for in-house development of hardware and software.
When the Acorn, renamed IBM PC was launched in 1981 it was the first to have been assembled with off the shelf hardware. Intel supplied the microprocessor and Microsoft the BASIC (Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language. Microsoft also supplied the Operating System, MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System).
The manner in which MS-DOS was chosen in preference to IBM's first choice, CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) by Gary Kildall of Digital Research has been the subject of some controversy.
Below are a set of links to varying sites relating to this story.
External Links
MS-DOS Microsoft - Tim Paterson - Gary Kildall
This version from inventors.about.com relates fairly closely to Cringely's account of events.
Article about IBM/DOS story from exo.com - The Deal of The Century (This link is now dead!)
Here we have a slightly different tale from Frank Delaney of MTA Micro Technology Associates. Yes Microsoft had the deal with IBM for MS-DOS but according to this version, the IBM PC was released with a choice of the new MS-Dos, CP/M-86, or the UCSD P operating system.
Article from the PC Magazine history library at zdnet.com - 1981: Introduction of the PC - (This link is now dead!)
This page from the history content at PC Magazine does not delve as deeply into the MS-DOS deal, but where it does it follows Cringely's account quite closely.
Article from a site about Bill Gates - A Biography of the man who started Microsoft - (This link is now dead!)
This site purports to be a supporter of Bill Gates, aiming to give us an insight into the man behind Microsoft. The main difference to Cringely, and other reports, relates to the price paid to Seattle Computer Products as being $75,000 not $50,000. A choice from three operating systems is once again mentioned with the launch of the IBM PC, Pascal, CP/M, and MS-DOS. These came at a price with MS-DOS reported as being the least expensive.
Father of DOS Still Having Fun at Microsoft
An interview with the author of QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) that became MS-DOS, Tim Paterson. Once again the price paid by Microsoft is put at $75,000 not $50,000.
Other resources
Accidental Empires - Robert X. Cringely. Published by the Penguin Group.
