The Man who could have been Bill Gates: Infamous Story Of Gary Kildall

The man who could have been bill gates Gary Kildall was a pioneer of personal computer software. 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.

He wrote programming language tools, including assemblers (Intel 4004), interpreters (BASIC), and compilers (PL/M). Gary created the first Operating System for the microprocessor, CP/M. He and his wife, Dorothy McEwen, started a successful company called Digital Research to develop and market CP/M, which for years was the dominant operating system for personal microcomputers.

He published a paper that introduced the theory of data-flow analysis, and he continued to experiment with microcomputers and the emerging technology of floppy disks. Intel lent him systems using the 8008 and 8080 processors, and in 1973, he developed the first high-level programming language for microprocessors, called PL/M. He created CP/M the same year to enable the 8080 to control a floppy drive, combining for the first time all the essential components of a computer at the microcomputer scale. Gary regarded computers as learning tools rather than profit machines. By 1981, at the peak of its popularity, CP/M ran on 3,000 different computer models and DRI had $5.4 million in yearly revenues. For the next 20 years, Gary continued inventing and breaking ground on new technologies, such as the first commercially available CD-ROM

Although his career in computing spanned more than two decades, he is mainly remembered in connection with IBM's unsuccessful attempt in 1980 to license CP/M for the IBM PC. Microsoft provided programming languages for 8-bit machines, while the most-widespread operating system CP/M came from Digital Research. The two companies had a silent agreement on not looting the other one's market. But Microsoft had licensed CP/M for a very successful hardware product at that time, the so called SoftCard for the Apple II. SoftCard contained a Zilog Z80 processor, and allowed Apple II owners to run CP/M and CP/M applications. IBM, woken by Apple's microcomputer success with the Apple II, approached Microsoft in search of an operating system and programming languages for their "Project Chess" = "Acorn" = "IBM PC" machine. The legend goes that IBM's decision makers mistakenly thought CP/M originated from Microsoft. Anyway, Bill Gates told IBM they would have to talk to Digital Research, and even organized an appointment with Digital Research CEO Gary Kildall.

So the next day some IBM representatives, including IBM veteran Jack Sam’s, flew from Microsoft's office in Seattle to Pacific Grove, California, where Digital Research was located. When they arrived, Kildall was not present because Kildall had already another meeting scheduled and was visiting important customers, and flew his own plane to get there. Kildall's wife Dorothy McEwen and her lawyer fatally miscalculated the situation in the meantime and declined to sign IBM's nondisclosure agreement, so IBM left with empty hands. Microsoft seized this opportunity to supply the OS in addition to other software for the new IBM PC.