Tim Paterson
Encyclopedia
Tim Paterson is an American
computer programmer, best known as the original author of MS-DOS
, the most widely used personal computer operating system
in the 1980s.
Paterson was educated in the Seattle Public Schools, graduating from Ingraham High School
in 1974. He attended the University of Washington
, working as a repair technician
for The Retail Computer Store in the Green Lake area of Seattle, Washington
, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Computer Science in June 1978. He went to work for Seattle Computer Products
as a designer and engineer. He designed a schematic of Microsoft's Z-80 SoftCard
which had a Z80 CPU and ran the CP/M
operating system on an Apple II.
A month later, Intel released the 8086
CPU, and Paterson went to work designing an S-100
8086 board, which went to market in November 1979. The only commercial software that existed for the board was a standalone version of Microsoft BASIC
. The standard CP/M operating system at the time was not available for this CPU and without a true operating system, sales were slow. Paterson began work on QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) in April 1980 to fill that void, copying the API
s of CP/M from sources including the published CP/M manual so that it would be highly compatible. QDOS was soon renamed as 86-DOS. Version 0.10 was complete by July 1980. By version 1.14 86-DOS had grown to 4,000 lines of assembly code.
In December 1980 Microsoft
secured the rights to market 86-DOS to other hardware manufacturers.
While acknowledging that he made 86-DOS compatible with CP/M, Paterson has maintained that the 86-DOS program was his original work and has denied allegations that he referred to CP/M's code while writing it.
When a book appeared in 2004 claiming that 86-DOS was an unoriginal "rip-off" of CP/M, Paterson sued the authors and publishers for defamation.
The judge found that Paterson failed to 'provide any evidence regarding “serious doubts” about the accuracy of the Gary Kildall
chapter. Instead, a careful review of the Lefer notes ... provides a research picture tellingly close to the substance of the final chapter' and the case was dismissed on the basis that the book's claims were constitutionally protected
opinions and not provably false.
Paterson left SCP in April 1981 and worked for Microsoft from May 1981 to April 1982. After a brief second stint with SCP, Paterson started his own company, Falcon Technology, which was bought by Microsoft in 1986. Paterson did a second stint with Microsoft from 1986–1988 and a third stint from 1990-1998. During his third stint at Microsoft, he worked on Visual Basic
.
After leaving Microsoft a third time, Paterson founded another software development company, Paterson Technology, and also made several appearances on the Comedy Central
television
program Battlebots
. Paterson also races rally cars in the SCCA Pro Rally series, and even engineered his own trip computer
which he integrated into the axle of a four-wheel drive Porsche 911
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer programmer, best known as the original author of MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, the most widely used personal computer operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
in the 1980s.
Paterson was educated in the Seattle Public Schools, graduating from Ingraham High School
Ingraham High School
Ingraham High School is a public high school serving grades 9-12 located in the Haller Lake neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA. Opened in 1959, it is named after Edward Sturgis Ingraham, the first superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools. Since 2002, Ingraham has been an International...
in 1974. He attended the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, working as a repair technician
Technician
A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skills and techniques, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Experienced technicians in a specific tool domain typically have intermediate understanding of theory and expert...
for The Retail Computer Store in the Green Lake area of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Computer Science in June 1978. He went to work for Seattle Computer Products
Seattle Computer Products
Seattle Computer Products was a Seattle, Washington microcomputer hardware company which was one of the first manufacturers of computer systems based on the 16-bit Intel 8086 processor...
as a designer and engineer. He designed a schematic of Microsoft's Z-80 SoftCard
Z-80 SoftCard
The Z-80 SoftCard was a plug-in card supplied by Microsoft for use with the Apple II personal computer, which did not have a Z-80 compatible processor and could not run CP/M. It had a Zilog Z80 CPU plus some 74LS00 series TTL chips to adapt that processor's bus to the rather different bus system...
which had a Z80 CPU and ran the CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
operating system on an Apple II.
A month later, Intel released the 8086
Intel 8086
The 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and mid-1978, when it was released. The 8086 gave rise to the x86 architecture of Intel's future processors...
CPU, and Paterson went to work designing an S-100
S-100 bus
The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE696-1983 , was an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, generally considered today to be the first personal computer...
8086 board, which went to market in November 1979. The only commercial software that existed for the board was a standalone version of Microsoft BASIC
Microsoft BASIC
Microsoft BASIC was the foundation product of the Microsoft company. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first BASIC, and the first high level programming language available for the MITS Altair 8800 hobbyist microcomputer....
. The standard CP/M operating system at the time was not available for this CPU and without a true operating system, sales were slow. Paterson began work on QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) in April 1980 to fill that void, copying the API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
s of CP/M from sources including the published CP/M manual so that it would be highly compatible. QDOS was soon renamed as 86-DOS. Version 0.10 was complete by July 1980. By version 1.14 86-DOS had grown to 4,000 lines of assembly code.
In December 1980 Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
secured the rights to market 86-DOS to other hardware manufacturers.
While acknowledging that he made 86-DOS compatible with CP/M, Paterson has maintained that the 86-DOS program was his original work and has denied allegations that he referred to CP/M's code while writing it.
When a book appeared in 2004 claiming that 86-DOS was an unoriginal "rip-off" of CP/M, Paterson sued the authors and publishers for defamation.
The judge found that Paterson failed to 'provide any evidence regarding “serious doubts” about the accuracy of the Gary Kildall
Gary Kildall
Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur who created the CP/M operating system and founded Digital Research, Inc....
chapter. Instead, a careful review of the Lefer notes ... provides a research picture tellingly close to the substance of the final chapter' and the case was dismissed on the basis that the book's claims were constitutionally protected
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
opinions and not provably false.
Paterson left SCP in April 1981 and worked for Microsoft from May 1981 to April 1982. After a brief second stint with SCP, Paterson started his own company, Falcon Technology, which was bought by Microsoft in 1986. Paterson did a second stint with Microsoft from 1986–1988 and a third stint from 1990-1998. During his third stint at Microsoft, he worked on Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
.
After leaving Microsoft a third time, Paterson founded another software development company, Paterson Technology, and also made several appearances on the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
program Battlebots
BattleBots
BattleBots is an American company that hosts robot competitions. BattleBots is also the name of the television show created from the competition footage. BattleBots Inc...
. Paterson also races rally cars in the SCCA Pro Rally series, and even engineered his own trip computer
Trip computer
A trip computer is an onboard computer device fitted to cars which can generally record distance travelled, average speed, average fuel consumption, and display real time fuel consumption information...
which he integrated into the axle of a four-wheel drive Porsche 911
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear-engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998...
.
Quotes
External links
- Paterson Technology, a company founded by Tim Paterson
- Tim Paterson's blog