Gary Kildall

Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution. During the 1970s he created the CP/M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools, and founded Digital Research, Inc. to market and sell his software; in 1974, in Pacific Grove, California, he demonstrated the first working prototype of CP/M, which later became the dominant operating system for microcomputers, and his invention of the BIOS allowed a microprocessor based computer to communicate with disk storage. During the 1980s he also co-hosted the PBS program Computer Chronicles, discussing developments in personal computing.