Lewis
Member
30 Years of PC Operating Systems
It started with a monochrome command-line prompt and has grown into a multicolored, multitasking, multimedia masterpiece. From DOS 1.0 to Windows 8, we take you along for the journey.
This article is in 5 consecutive post here at 123 Christian Forums.net
Contents
A capital letter, a colon, and an arrow. That's all you saw when you fired up the first PC's operating system, DOS 1.0. From those humble beginnings, comes the explosion of colors and sound possible with today's Windows 7 PCs and the multi-touch gesture input promised for its successor, Windows 8. So much of what we now take for granted was still a glimmer in operating system engineers' eyes 30 years ago when the PC first entered the scene.
It was on August 12, 1981. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. The Soviet Union was still intact. Prince Charles and Princess Diana were on their honeymoon. But on that day, in the Waldorf Astoria ballroom in New York City, Don Estridge changed the world by announcing the spanking new IBM PC at a cost of $1,565. There were no windows. No mice. No Start Menu. The word "icon" only referred to religious paintings and webs were the sole province of spiders and chatting was only done face-to-face or over the telephone. The IBM PC was basically a typewriter with a monochrome character-based screen. It may not have looked like much, then, but it was the start of a worldwide cultural change.
Enter Microsoft
IBM couldn't bring the PC to life all on its own. As Bill Gates explained in an interview in the first issue of PC Magazine: "The typical project design time for a large company like IBM...is a little over four years.... in the personal computer industry...you really couldn't be competitive if you speced out your project in 1976 and sold it in 1980." The business-targeted Apple III had just come out, though it failed to gain a stronghold in that market. So IBM took an uncharacteristic course: they'd subcontract work on the new machine's operating system and make use of other manufacturer's parts, most notably Intel's microprocessors.
This use of third-party operating system software from Microsoft, along with third-party hardware components, was the key to the PC's later worldwide domination in the personal computer market: It allowed competing vendors to license the operating system from Microsoft and build PCs of their own, creating a profusion of choice and a massive PC ecosystem of hardware and software. Though several planets had to come into alignment to make the PC the success that it was, the choice of Microsoft for its operating system was critical. Many may not realize that you could buy the early PC with two other (far more expensive) OS choices, but those soon became irrelevant.
DOS didn't just appear out of nowhere. Digital Research's Gary Kildall had developed an operating system for microcomputers called CP/M in the early 70s. Not only did several early personal computers run that OS—most notably from Altair, Osborne, and Kaypro, but the first PC OS, DOS borrowed from it (resulting in litigations from Digital Research). Far more software titles ran on CP/M than on DOS, too. Digital Research failed to take over the PC's interface yet a second time years later, with its GEM graphical windowing system, which Windows subsequently buried.
Why Microsoft? Why DOS?
By now it's become computing legend: business technology giant IBM strikes a deal with Bill Gates from startup Micro-soft (the hyphen was later dropped) for the operating system that would run its new entry in the personal computer market, the IBM PC. IBM had originally gone to Kildall and Digital Research, but that company wouldn't countenance IBM's licensing terms and non-disclosure agreement—IBM insisted on absolute secrecy for the project. Gate explains it in a 2001 interview with then Editor-in-Chief Michael Miller: "The IBM guys flew down there and they couldn't get the non-disclosure signed. Because IBM non-disclosures are pretty unreasonable. It's very one-sided. And we just went ahead and signed the thing."
Gates and Co. already had some OS experience writing software for microcomputers. Back in 1975, Gates and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen had created a version of the BASIC programming language for the popular earlier hobbyist microcomputer, the MITS Altair 8800, followed by more languages for more microcomputers. So the small, nimble company seemed a good candidate to IBM.
The infant software company, however, had no 16-bit operating system, which the PC would require. Allen knew someone who had built one—Tim Paterson, of Tukwila, Washington's Seattle Computer Products. Paterson's 16-bit OS was a CP/M variation called QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), for which Microsoft originally paid $25,000, followed by another $50,000. QDOS became MS-DOS 1.0. (In Microsoft's OS, the D in DOS would stand for Disk, however.) Considering the hundreds of billions Microsoft would become worth, this might seem like a raw deal. But Paterson later became a Microsoft employee, and no hard feelings ensued.
The Software
In addition to DOS, the first PC came with Microsoft BASIC, for the code-literate. But the PC's original press release listed several more choices: "Program packages available for the IBM Personal Computer cover popular business and home applications. For example, EasyWriter will store letters, manuscripts and other text for editing or rapid reproduction on the printer...VisiCalc is available for applications ranging from financial analysis to budget planning. Microsoft Adventure brings players into a fantasy world of caves and treasures."
It was a success. According to IBM, "By the end of 1982, qualified retail outfits were signing on to sell the new machine at the rate of one-a-day as sales actually hit a system-a-minute every business day. Newsweek magazine called it "IBM's roaring success," and the New York Times said, "The speed and extent to which IBM has been successful has surprised many people, including IBM itself." Ads featuring Charlie Chaplin did their part to humanize the product, and Time magazine chose the "personal computer" as its 1982 Man of the Year.
So that's how it all started, now let's turn to our visual history of the PC's operating system, from DOS 1.0 through the birthing pains and later dominance of Windows, all the way to the future in Windows 8.
It started with a monochrome command-line prompt and has grown into a multicolored, multitasking, multimedia masterpiece. From DOS 1.0 to Windows 8, we take you along for the journey.
This article is in 5 consecutive post here at 123 Christian Forums.net
Contents
- 30 Years of PC Operating Systems
- From 1975 to 2012
It was on August 12, 1981. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. The Soviet Union was still intact. Prince Charles and Princess Diana were on their honeymoon. But on that day, in the Waldorf Astoria ballroom in New York City, Don Estridge changed the world by announcing the spanking new IBM PC at a cost of $1,565. There were no windows. No mice. No Start Menu. The word "icon" only referred to religious paintings and webs were the sole province of spiders and chatting was only done face-to-face or over the telephone. The IBM PC was basically a typewriter with a monochrome character-based screen. It may not have looked like much, then, but it was the start of a worldwide cultural change.
Enter Microsoft
IBM couldn't bring the PC to life all on its own. As Bill Gates explained in an interview in the first issue of PC Magazine: "The typical project design time for a large company like IBM...is a little over four years.... in the personal computer industry...you really couldn't be competitive if you speced out your project in 1976 and sold it in 1980." The business-targeted Apple III had just come out, though it failed to gain a stronghold in that market. So IBM took an uncharacteristic course: they'd subcontract work on the new machine's operating system and make use of other manufacturer's parts, most notably Intel's microprocessors.
This use of third-party operating system software from Microsoft, along with third-party hardware components, was the key to the PC's later worldwide domination in the personal computer market: It allowed competing vendors to license the operating system from Microsoft and build PCs of their own, creating a profusion of choice and a massive PC ecosystem of hardware and software. Though several planets had to come into alignment to make the PC the success that it was, the choice of Microsoft for its operating system was critical. Many may not realize that you could buy the early PC with two other (far more expensive) OS choices, but those soon became irrelevant.
DOS didn't just appear out of nowhere. Digital Research's Gary Kildall had developed an operating system for microcomputers called CP/M in the early 70s. Not only did several early personal computers run that OS—most notably from Altair, Osborne, and Kaypro, but the first PC OS, DOS borrowed from it (resulting in litigations from Digital Research). Far more software titles ran on CP/M than on DOS, too. Digital Research failed to take over the PC's interface yet a second time years later, with its GEM graphical windowing system, which Windows subsequently buried.
Why Microsoft? Why DOS?
By now it's become computing legend: business technology giant IBM strikes a deal with Bill Gates from startup Micro-soft (the hyphen was later dropped) for the operating system that would run its new entry in the personal computer market, the IBM PC. IBM had originally gone to Kildall and Digital Research, but that company wouldn't countenance IBM's licensing terms and non-disclosure agreement—IBM insisted on absolute secrecy for the project. Gate explains it in a 2001 interview with then Editor-in-Chief Michael Miller: "The IBM guys flew down there and they couldn't get the non-disclosure signed. Because IBM non-disclosures are pretty unreasonable. It's very one-sided. And we just went ahead and signed the thing."
Gates and Co. already had some OS experience writing software for microcomputers. Back in 1975, Gates and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen had created a version of the BASIC programming language for the popular earlier hobbyist microcomputer, the MITS Altair 8800, followed by more languages for more microcomputers. So the small, nimble company seemed a good candidate to IBM.
The infant software company, however, had no 16-bit operating system, which the PC would require. Allen knew someone who had built one—Tim Paterson, of Tukwila, Washington's Seattle Computer Products. Paterson's 16-bit OS was a CP/M variation called QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), for which Microsoft originally paid $25,000, followed by another $50,000. QDOS became MS-DOS 1.0. (In Microsoft's OS, the D in DOS would stand for Disk, however.) Considering the hundreds of billions Microsoft would become worth, this might seem like a raw deal. But Paterson later became a Microsoft employee, and no hard feelings ensued.
The Software
In addition to DOS, the first PC came with Microsoft BASIC, for the code-literate. But the PC's original press release listed several more choices: "Program packages available for the IBM Personal Computer cover popular business and home applications. For example, EasyWriter will store letters, manuscripts and other text for editing or rapid reproduction on the printer...VisiCalc is available for applications ranging from financial analysis to budget planning. Microsoft Adventure brings players into a fantasy world of caves and treasures."
It was a success. According to IBM, "By the end of 1982, qualified retail outfits were signing on to sell the new machine at the rate of one-a-day as sales actually hit a system-a-minute every business day. Newsweek magazine called it "IBM's roaring success," and the New York Times said, "The speed and extent to which IBM has been successful has surprised many people, including IBM itself." Ads featuring Charlie Chaplin did their part to humanize the product, and Time magazine chose the "personal computer" as its 1982 Man of the Year.
So that's how it all started, now let's turn to our visual history of the PC's operating system, from DOS 1.0 through the birthing pains and later dominance of Windows, all the way to the future in Windows 8.
Last edited by a moderator:
