User:Rhinozz

I make a lot of QDOS/86-DOS pages, pirate far too many books for research purposes, and don't have FTP access.

Pages I Update
QDOS 0.10

QDOS 0.11

86-DOS 0.2

86-DOS 0.3 (currently researching - unfinished)

The rest of the 86-DOS pages (unfinished)

Misc. QDOS/86-DOS info

 * "Tim Paterson also told me that he, unfortunately, didn't keep a copy of QDOS or 86-DOS (I had asked him to share a copy :-)."
 * LucasB: Tim Paterson "kept copies of source code listings though"
 * Barry Watzman sold a collection of 86-DOS floppies in 2009
 * 5 floppies were sold
 * At least 1.00 was sold, and it was imaged but not dumped anywhere
 * The versions were probably 0.33, 0.34, 1.00, 1.25 (SCP OEM), and 2.00 (SCP OEM)
 * 0.33 and 0.34 were shipped by SCP
 * 86-DOS 0.34 is in the possession of BetaCollector, and was shipped
 * Closeup. Also see this.
 * Less than 30 people ever saw 86-DOS 0.3, and less than 10 people are estimated to have ever seen QDOS 0.10
 * Version 0.2 and 0.3 have their boot sectors and BIOS at the end of their respective manuals
 * Microsoft "couldn't find" QDOS source code. However, they returned some pieces of Windows 95 source code later, hinting at them possibly having some of it
 * Disk Master was added later - not initially in 86-DOS
 * Version 0.42 changed directory entries from 16 to 32 bytes, and added a date timestamp
 * LST was a reserved name, the same as PRN
 * Lomas licensed 86-DOS 0.2, also see this December ad
 * Lomas additionally licensed 86-DOS 0.33 (or 0.34, but more likely 0.33) for their LDP1 mainframe
 * 0.34 for the LPT1
 * Any version from 0.42 to 0.60 (though 0.42 is most likely), for the LDP1
 * Any version from 0.60 to 1.00 (though 0.60, 0.74, or 0.75 are most likely), for the LDP1
 * Version 1.00 (or 1.01 if it was released), for the LDP1 and LDP2. Also see this ad
 * Any version from 1.00 to 1.10 (either 1.10 or 1.00/1.01)
 * Version 1.10
 * The character å (0xE5) was not allowed as the first letter in a filename under 86-DOS (initial source)
 * This is because deleted files just are appended this letter in front. It allows for a primitive form of file recovery, by manually extracting the file from the disk image.
 * The only useful file recovered as of now is the file åOOTSEC.A86 (BOOTSEC.A86) from the Cromemco 1.00 disk. It was created on 28 April 1980 and is available here (extraction by LucasB).
 * While the current dumped version of 86-DOS 1.00 (Cromemco) was dumped by Howard Harte, Don Maslin also had a version. It's not dumped but it's owned by the Computer History Museum. Also see this and this.
 * The Computer History Museum has 2 other donations of SCP floppies.
 * They also have a potentially unscanned manual.
 * Similarly, Rich Cini also has another 86-DOS 1.00 disk.
 * Update 25 August 2021: Rich sent me the disk. It's a Tarbell SD image, which is new. It contains 2 of the same 3 deleted files that are in the Cromemco disk's slack space - the BOOTSEC.A86 and CPMTAB.COM files. I submitted it to BetaArchive.
 * Update 28 August 2021: It might not be a Tarbell SD image. I figured out how to extract the files and it seems to be for the Cromemco 4DFC instead.
 * Tim Shoppa of Trailing Edge has a Cromemco 4DFC version of 86-DOS
 * "QDOS was just a stopgap. If I had any clue it would be so successful, I would have spent more time on it."
 * Confirms that initial cost was 10k and then 15k per customer
 * The 5 June 1981 beta of PC-DOS (dubbed PC-DOS 0.9) has a mention of "Assembler Version 2.10" in the slack space
 * Source code (and disks) analysis
 * ASM was version 2.01 in 0.34, 2.10 in 0.42, 2.11 in 0.56, 2.20 in 0.60, 2.23 in 0.74-0.80, 2.24 in 1.00-1.10, and 2.40 in 1.14 (Source: ASM in 1.25 source code)
 * The date on 2.40, and comparing to the disk's version, proves 1.14 was from November 1981 (also INIT.ASM from 1.14 is revised 24 November 1981)
 * COMMAND was version 1.00 in 1.00 and 1.10 in 1.14 (Source: disks)
 * DEBUG was version 1.01 in 1.00 and 1.03 in 1.14 (Source: disks)
 * EDLIN was version 1.00 in 1.00 and 1.01 in 1.14 (Source: disks)
 * INIT was versioned 1.10 in 1.14 and unversioned in 1.00 (Source: disks)
 * MON was versioned 1.5 in both 1.00 and 1.14 (Source: disks)
 * DEBUG-86 was created for the development of QDOS and only later was translated and added as a command
 * DOS Programmer's Reference (Third Edition) by Terry Dettmann: "Seattle Computer Products established a base of several dozen customers, including at least one other hardware manufacturer."
 * This article recounts the entire story of IBM trying to license CP/M. It also includes a quote, said by Bill Gates to Jack Sams - "Do you want to get it, or do you want me to?" (with 'it' being 86-DOS) - and Sams responded, "By all means, you get it."
 * Because there is confusion on how much 86-DOS was bought for, Tim Paterson says it was $50,000.
 * Exact dates of licensing and buying 86-DOS (sources in parenthesis):
 * Paul Allen contacts Rod Brock for licensing: 22 September 1980 (Gates by Manes and Andrews)
 * Paul Allen negotiates with Rod Brock a non-exclusive sublicense to an unnamed OEM (IBM). Microsoft has to create a formal contract within 60 days: 23 September 1980 (Gates by Manes and Andrews)
 * Seattle Computer Products signs the license agreement with Microsoft. It costs $10,000 upfront, and $10,000 per customer with an additional $5,000 each if source code is included: 6 January 1981 (License agreement)
 * Paul Allen proposes to Rod Brock that Microsoft buy all rights to 86-DOS for $30,000 plus a license to Microsoft's macro assembler and linker: 25 June 1981 (Gates by Manes and Andrews)
 * Rod Brock offers a counterproposal for $150,000 plus a right to license all Microsoft languages at a major discount: 10 July 1981 (Gates by Manes and Andrews)
 * Paul Allen negotiates down to $50,000, plus the right to license all Microsoft languages at a major discount: 27 July 1981 (Agreement of sale)
 * Ads
 * https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1980-11/page/n243/mode/2up?view=theater
 * https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1981-02/page/n265/mode/2up?view=theater
 * https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1981-05/page/n275/mode/2up?view=theater
 * Lifeboat Associates tried to buy 86-DOS for $200,000 (Gates by Manes and Andrews) or $250,000 (Hard Drive by Wallace and Erickson), but it failed because Microsoft is already drafting out an agreement of sale to buy it.

Statements that need sources

 * LST, for lister; introduced with 86-DOS 0.74.
 * 86-DOS 0.42 up to MS-DOS 1.14 used hard-wired drive profiles instead of a FAT ID, but used this byte to distinguish between media formatted with 32-byte or 16-byte directory entries, as they were used prior to 86-DOS 0.42.
 * 86-DOS did not offer any specific support for fixed disks, but third-party solutions in form of hard disk controllers and corresponding I/O system extensions for 86-DOS were available from companies like Tallgrass Technologies, making hard disks accessible similar to superfloppies within the size limits of the FAT12 file system. (also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallgrass_Technologies)
 * In this same time period Phoenix purchased a non-exclusive license for Seattle Computer Products 86-DOS. Phoenix developed customized versions of 86-DOS (or sometimes called PDOS for Phoenix DOS) for various microprocessor platforms. Phoenix also provided PMate as a replacement for Edlin as the DOS file editor. Phoenix also developed C language libraries, called PForCe, along with Plink-86/Plink-86plus, overlay linkers, and Pfix-86, a windowed Debugger for DOS.