IBM almost made DR’s CPM the operating system to ship with its new at the time IBM Personal Computer. But Kildall missed the meeting.
“Years before Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, in 1974, Gary Kildall booted the world’s first commercially successful personal computer operating system into life in Pacific Grove,” according to Laws, who also said Digital Research was “one of the brightest stars in the pioneering days of the PC revolution.” The discussion comes about a decade after Kildall ‘s daughter and son and approximately 30 former Digital Research Inc. employees gathered outside the company’s former 801 Lighthouse Ave. headquarters
for the unveiling of a plaque cemented into the sidewalk to honor his legacy.
Kildall died July 1 1, 1994, after a blow to the head at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill in Monterey.