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Gary Kildall

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description Gary Kildall Overview

Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist who created the CP/M operating system in 1974. He founded Digital Research, Inc. to market CP/M, which became the most widely used operating system for early 8-bit microcomputers during the late 1970s. Kildall also pioneered early concepts for graphical user interfaces and disk networking with his later GEM desktop environment.

His work established foundational technologies for the personal computing industry before the dominance of MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows.

help Gary Kildall FAQ

What was CP/M and why did Gary Kildall create it?

CP/M was an operating system that let software run on many Intel 8080 and Z80-based microcomputers. Kildall developed it in the 1970s and later marketed it through Digital Research.

Why did IBM choose PC DOS instead of Gary Kildall's CP/M?

IBM and Digital Research did not reach an agreement to make CP/M the standard system for the IBM PC. IBM instead licensed an operating system from Microsoft, which became PC DOS and helped establish MS-DOS as the dominant platform.

Did Gary Kildall invent the idea of a disk operating system?

He did not invent every underlying concept, but CP/M was among the first widely adopted disk operating systems for microcomputers. Its separation of hardware-specific input and output routines also made it unusually portable across different machines.

What else did Gary Kildall develop besides CP/M?

Kildall created the PL/M programming language while working with Intel and founded Digital Research with Dorothy McEwen. His company later produced products including DR-DOS and the GEM graphical environment.