CUPERTINO, CA — (Marketwired) — 07/26/16 — For decades there have been rumors that in 1980 when IBM chose MS-DOS over CP/M for its PC operating system, Microsoft had essentially copied CP/M and that the credit, and the money, should really have gone to Digital Research, Inc. (DRI) and to its CEO, Gary Kildall. Fans of Gary Kildall and admirers of Bill Gates still argue to this day. Famed forensic scientist compared the two programs several years ago, but his access to source code was limited. Recently, Microsoft donated the previously unavailable source code for MS-DOS to the Computer History Museum, and a more complete version of the CP/M source code was found. As a result, Zeidman has made another, more in-depth comparison. On Saturday, August 6, at the at the in Mountain View, California, Zeidman will present the history of CP/M and MS-DOS, DRI and Microsoft, Gary Kildall and Bill Gates, and then he–ll announce his new findings regarding whether or not Microsoft copied CP/M to create MS-DOS.
Was Microsoft built from stolen goods? A forensic analysis of DOS and CP/M
Bob Zeidman, Software Forensic Scientist
Saturday, August 6, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Vintage Computer Festival, Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Available at the door or online at
invented the field of . He has consulted in high-profile court cases including ConnectU v. Facebook that was made famous in the Academy Award-winning movie The Social Network, Texas Instruments v. Samsung Electronics that resulted in an award to his client of over $1 billion, and Oracle v. Google that is setting a standard for software copyright. To compare MS-DOS and CP/M source code and resolve the question once and for all, Bob is using , the tool he created for analyzing software to detect copyright infringement.
The Vintage Computer Federation () is a 501(c)(3) non-profit serving computer history enthusiasts. Projects include the Vintage Computer Festival events series, Vintage Computer Forum online discussion site, regional chapters, and hands-on museum exhibits.
Todd Lane
Antenna Group
(415) 977-1945
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