Software Scan

The President's Column

Was MS-DOS copied from CP/M? Did Bill Gates steal fame and fortune from Gary Kildall? Come to the Vintage Computer Festival at the Computer History Museum on August 6 to find out. Read more about it in this month's Scanning IP section of the SAFE newsletter. 

Send me your comments and critiques. I'm always interested in hearing from you.

Regards,

Bob Zeidman
President, SAFE Corporation

Scanning IP

Did Microsoft copy CP/M to create MS-DOS? We'll know the truth on August 6

CUPERTINO, Calif.—July 26, 2016—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 Bob Zeidman 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 Vintage Computer Festival at the Computer History Museum 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.

About Bob Zeidman:
Bob Zeidman invented the field of software forensics. 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 CodeSuite, the tool he created for analyzing software to detect copyright infringement.
 
About the Vintage Computer Federation:
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.

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Get Smart

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MCLE credit in software IP

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Remember that you can have your own secure office at the SAFE facility for storing proprietary software, running CodeSuite, analyzing the results, and getting onsite support. We're located at

20863 Stevens Creek Blvd.
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(408) 517-1167