MP/M#MP/M 8-16

The 8-bit system required a 8080 (or Z80) CPU and a minimum of 32 KB of RAM to run, but this left little memory for user applications. In order to support reasonable setups, MP/M allowed for memory to be switched in and out of the machine's "real memory" area. So for instance a program might be loaded into a "bank" of RAM that was not addressable by the CPU, and when it was time for the program to run that bank of RAM would be "switched" to appear in low memory (typically the lower 32 or 48 KB) and thus become visible to the OS. This technique, known as bank switching was subsequently added to the single user version of CP/M with version 3.0.

One of the primary uses of MP/M, perhaps to the surprise of DRI, was as a "power user" version of CP/M for a single user. The ability to run several programs at the same time and address large amounts of memory made the system worth the extra price.

MP/M II 2.0 added file sharing capabilities in 1981, MP/M II 2.1 came with extended file locking in January 1982.

Versions:

• MP/M 1.0 (1979)
• MP/M 1.1 (January 1980)
• MP/M II 2.0 (July 1981, added: file sharing)
• MP/M II 2.1 (January 1982, added: extended file locking)

Like CP/M, MP/M was eventually ported to the 16-bit Intel 8086, and appeared as MP/M-86 2.0 in September 1981. Main developers of the system include Francis "Frank" R. Holsworth, later a director of marketing at Digital Research. Known revisions of MP/M-86 2.0 were dated 25 September 1981 and 5 October 1981. There also was an MP/M-86 2.1 dated 20 July 1982.

MP/M-86 2.1 absorbed some of the technology of CP/M-86 1.1 (BDOS 2.2) to become Concurrent CP/M-86 3.0 (BDOS 3.0) in late 1982, which also added support for "virtual screens". Kathryn Strutynski, the project manager for CP/M-86, continued as project manager for Concurrent CP/M-86. In December 1983, a DOS emulator named PC-MODE became available as an optional module for Concurrent CP/M-86 3.1 (BDOS 3.1), shipping on 21 February 1984, and the system was further developed into the MS-DOS compatible Concurrent DOS (BDOS 3.1 and higher). This in turn continued to evolve into FlexOS and Multiuser DOS and as such is still in use in some industrial applications.

Concurrent CP/M is often abbreviated CCP/M.

[https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102762505 "CCP/M articles in the press"].

{{See also|Multiuser DOS#Concurrent CP/M-86{{!}}Concurrent CP/M-86|Concurrent DOS}}

MP/M 8-16 (sometimes also referred to as MP/M-8/16) was CompuPro's name for a combination of the multi-user 16-bit MP/M-86 to perform single-user, single-stream CP/M functions, along with multi-user, multi-tasking 8-bit MP/M operations running on the multi-processor {{ill|CompuPro System 816|sr|Compupro System 816}}. Later on, this system was also able to run Concurrent DOS 3.1.

{{SeeAlso|CP/M 8-16|CP/M-86/80|Concurrent CP/M-86/80}}

In 1982, Digital Research announced plans to develop MP/M-286 to take advantage of the 16-bit Intel 80286's new memory management and protection features to run existing MP/M-86 and CP/M-86 applications. This was apparently never published "as is", but was further developed into Concurrent CP/M-286, which seems to have formed the basis for the later Concurrent DOS 286 in 1985 and FlexOS 286 in 1986.

{{SeeAlso|Concurrent CP/M-286|Concurrent DOS 286}}

The following list of commands are supported by the MP/M II Console Command Processor CCP:

{{div col|colwidth=9em}}

• ABORT
• ATTACH
• ASM
• CONSOLE
• DDT
• DIR
• DSKRESET
• DUMP
• ED
• ERA
• ERAQ
• GENHEX
• GENMOD
• GENSYS
• LIB
• LINK
• LOAD
• MPMLDR
• MPMSTAT
• PIP
• PRINTER
• PRLCOM
• RDT
• REN
• RMAC
• SCHED
• SDIR
• SET
• SHOW
• SPOOL
• STAT
• STOPSPL
• SUBMIT
• TOD
• TYPE
• USER
• XREF

{{div col end}}

In the early 1980s Digital Research also developed networking software named CP/NET used to connect an MP/M server with multiple CP/NET clients (named requesters) running CP/M. It was originally developed by Tom Rolander.

MP/NET was an MP/M system with networking allowing the MP/M system to function as both requester and server with CP/M requesters.

The CP/NET clients could also be run in a diskless configuration with the system stored in ROM, then named CP/NOS (with NOS for Network Operating System). Similar, MP/NOS contained MP/M without local disk facilities. Like CP/NOS, MP/NOS performed the disk functions through the network.

The system allowed to share files and printers and send electronic messages.

• NIOS – Network I/O System
• SNIOS – Slave Network I/O System
• NDOS – Network Disk Operating System

CP/NET existed in versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 in versions for 8080 and Z80 processors. CP/NET-86 for 8086 was available as well.

Later incarnations were DR Net and FlexNet.

Caldera permitted the redistribution and modification of all original Digital Research files, including source code, related to the CP/M and MP/M families through Tim Olmstead's "The Unofficial CP/M Web site" since 1997. After Olmstead's death on 12 September 2001, the free distribution license was refreshed and expanded by Lineo, who had meanwhile become the owner of those Digital Research assets, on 19 October 2001.

{{Reflist|group="nb"|refs=

Since there was apparently no 8-bit version of Concurrent CP/M, the 16-bit version Concurrent CP/M-86 was also referred to simply as Concurrent CP/M.{{clarify|date=January 2020|reason=This still needs better proof.|}}

}}

{{Reflist|40em|refs=

{{cite web |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |type=internal specification |title=MP/M 1.0 - A Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program for Microcomputer System Development - FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION |date=1979-08-09 |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_I/MPM_1.0_Specification_Aug79.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104212946/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_I/MPM_1.0_Specification_Aug79.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/ |title=In His Own Words: Gary Kildall |author-first=Len |author-last=Shustek |date=2016-08-02 |work=Remarkable People |publisher=Computer History Museum}}

{{cite book |orig-year=1993 |date=2016-08-02 |title=Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry |author-first=Gary Arlen |author-last=Kildall |author-link=Gary Kildall |editor-first1=Scott |editor-last1=Kildall |editor-link=Scott Kildall |editor-first2=Kristin |editor-last2=Kildall |publisher=Kildall Family |type=Manuscript, part 1 |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/computer-history-museum-license-agreement-for-the-kildall-manuscript/ |access-date=2016-11-17 }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/corphist/view.php?s=events&id=1816 |publisher=Computer History Museum |series=Information Technology Corporate Histories Collection |title=Catalog Search | Computer History Museum }}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M-86 Operating System - System Guide |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |orig-year=September 1981 |date=October 1981 |edition=corrected 1st |url=http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/mpm86sg.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104172741/http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/documents/doc-4468e75a9255a.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite book |author-first1=Harold |author-last1=Evans |author-link1=Harold Evans |author-first2=Gail |author-last2=Buckland |author-first3=David |author-last3=Lefer |author-link3=David Lefer |date=2004 |title=They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators |publisher=Little, Brown and Co. |isbn=978-0-316-27766-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/theymadeamericaf00evan }}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M-86 Operating System - User's Guide |date=1981-09-25 |edition=1 |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm-86/MPM-86_Users_Guide_Sep81.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104172228/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm-86/MPM-86_Users_Guide_Sep81.pdf |archive-date=4 January 2017 }}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M - Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program - User's Guide |date=July 1981 |orig-year=1979 |edition=4 |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |url=http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/mpm1ug01.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104231702/http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/mpm1ug01.pdf |archive-date=4 January 2017 }}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M-86 Operating System - Programmer's Guide |date=September 1981 |edition=1 |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm-86/MPM86_pgmr_Sep81.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104211018/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm-86/MPM86_pgmr_Sep81.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M II Operating System - User's Guide |date=August 1981 |edition=1 |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_II_User_Guide_1981.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104230718/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_II_User_Guide_1981.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M II Operating System - User's Guide |date=August 1982 |edition=2 |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |url=http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/mpm2ug.pdf |access-date=2020-01-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020124021/http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/mpm2ug.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-20}}

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M II Operating System - Programmer's Guide |date=1981 |edition=1 |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_II_Programmers_Guide_1981.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104230836/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_II_Programmers_Guide_1981.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite web |title=MP/M-86 2.1 disk contents |url=http://www.cpm.z80.de/download/mpm86-21.zip |access-date=2020-01-07}}

{{cite journal |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |date=1984 |title=PC-Mode bridges CP/M and PC DOS |journal=Digital Dialogue - Employee Newsletter of Digital Research Inc. |volume=3 |number=1 |page=3 |url=http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/view.php?s=documents&id=1008 |access-date=2017-01-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104174356/http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/documents/doc-4468e75a9255a.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite journal |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |date=1984 |title=Concurrent CP/M ships early in response to team effort |journal=Digital Dialogue - Employee Newsletter of Digital Research Inc. |volume=3 |number=1 |page=1 |url=http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/view.php?s=documents&id=1008 |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104183231/http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/documents/doc-4468e75a9255a.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite journal |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=Concurrent DOS bridges PC DOS, CP/M |journal=Digital Research News - for Digital Research Users Everywhere |volume=4 |number=2 |page=3 |date=May 1984 |quote=[…] "Concurrent DOS Release 3.1 is rapidly gaining momentum and support from a wide range of microcomputer manufacturers," Wandryk said. "Some 60 hardware companies have licensed the product since it was released in early March." […]}}

{{cite book |title=CP/NET - Network Operating System - Reference Manual |publisher=Digital Research |edition=5 |date=November 1982 |orig-year=1980 |url=http://www.autometer.de/unix4fun/z80pack/cpnet/cpnet.htm |access-date=2016-11-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124221147/http://www.autometer.de/unix4fun/z80pack/cpnet/cpnet.htm |archive-date=2016-11-24}}

{{citation |title=MP/M II Operating System Release 2.1 Release Notes |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |publisher=Digital Research |location=Pacific Grove, CA, USA |date=January 1982 |url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_digitalReseleaseNotes1982_1174682 |access-date=2017-01-04 }} [http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPMII_2.1_RelNotes.pdf] [http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_II_2.1_Release_Notes_1982.pdf]

{{cite book |author=Digital Research |author-link=Digital Research |title=MP/M - Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program - User's Guide |date=March 1981 |edition=3 |orig-year=1979 |publisher=Digital Research |url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_Users_Guide_Mar81.pdf |access-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104225713/http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm_II/MPM_Users_Guide_Mar81.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-04}}

{{cite journal |author-first=Gary Arlen |author-last=Kildall |author-link=Gary Arlen Kildall |title=CP/M: A Family of 8-and 16-Bit Operating Systems |journal=BYTE |date=June 1981 |url=http://www.digitalresearch.biz/GARY&CPM.HTM |access-date=2018-09-09}}

{{cite newsgroup |author-first=Tim |author-last=Olmstead |author-link=Tim Olmstead (CP/M) |title=CP/M Web site needs a host |date=1997-08-10 |newsgroup=comp.os.cpm |url=https://z80cpu.eu/files/archive/news/comp.os.cpm/threads/e088021c97ffcb09.html |access-date=2018-09-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901022510/http://z80cpu.eu/files/archive/news/comp.os.cpm/threads/e088021c97ffcb09.html |archive-date=2017-09-01}}

{{cite newsgroup |author-first=Tim |author-last=Olmstead |author-link=Tim Olmstead (CP/M) |title=ANNOUNCE: Caldera CP/M site is now up |date=1997-08-29 |newsgroup=comp.os.cpm |url=https://z80cpu.eu/roche-pages/78-data-articles/projects/75-comp-os-cpm |access-date=2018-09-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901150920/http://z80cpu.eu/roche-pages/78-data-articles/projects/75-comp-os-cpm |archive-date=2017-09-01}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20011006110826/http://cdl.uta.edu/cpm]

{{cite web |title=License Agreement |publisher=Caldera, Inc. |date=1997-08-28 |url=http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/archive/unofficial/lisence.html |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180908191417/http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/archive/unofficial/lisence.html |archive-date=8 September 2018 |access-date=9 September 2018 }} [ftp://ftp.uni-bayreuth.de/pub/pc/caldera/cpm2.2/README.license.txt]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [ftp://ftp.uni-bayreuth.de/pub/pc/caldera/cpm2.2/]

{{cite newsgroup |title=Tim Olmstead |author=Allison |date=2001-09-12 |newsgroup=comp.os.cpm |url=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.os.cpm/jESCg1Nt6GQ/MiR-UcFqhecJ}}

{{cite web |title=License agreement for the CP/M material presented on this site |author-first=Bryan Wayne |author-last=Sparks |author-link=Bryan Wayne Sparks |editor-first=Gabriele "Gaby" |editor-last=Chaudry |date=2001-10-19 |publisher=Lineo, Inc. |url=http://www.cpm.z80.de/license.html |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180908185132/http://www.cpm.z80.de/license.html |archive-date=8 September 2018 |quote=[…] Let this email represent a right to use, distribute, modify, enhance and otherwise make available in a nonexclusive manner the CP/M technology as part of the "Unofficial CP/M Web Site" with its maintainers, developers and community. I further state that as Chairman and CEO of Lineo, Inc. that I have the right to do offer such a license. […] Bryan Sparks […] |access-date=9 September 2018 }}

{{cite web |title=The Unofficial CP/M Web Site |editor-first=Gabriele "Gaby" |editor-last=Chaudry |url=http://www.cpm.z80.de/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203184144/http://www.cpm.z80.de/ |archive-date=2016-02-03}}

{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/11/26/cp_m_collection_is_back/ |title=CP/M collection is back online with an Open Source licence - Walk down memory lane |author-first=Tina |author-last=Gasperson |work=The Register |date=2001-11-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901000720/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/11/26/cp_m_collection_is_back/ |archive-date=2017-09-01}}

{{cite journal |title=CP/M and DRM |author-first=Michael |author-last=Swaine |author-link=Michael Swaine (technical author) |date=2004-06-01 |journal=Dr. Dobb's Journal |volume=29 |issue=6 |id=#361 |publisher=CMP Media LLC |pages=71–73 |url=http://www.drdobbs.com/cpm-and-drm/184405699 |access-date=2018-09-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909035748/http://www.drdobbs.com/cpm-and-drm/184405699 |archive-date=2018-09-09}} [https://epdf.pub/dr-dobbs-journal-june.html]

{{cite web |title=Gary Kildall in England |author-first=Josef "Joe" |author-last=Wein |date=2002 |url=https://joewein.de/gary.html |access-date=2019-04-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403010811/https://joewein.de/gary.html |archive-date=2019-04-03}}

{{cite web |title=Video: Frank Holsworth, developer |author-first=Francis "Frank" R. |author-last=Holsworth |date=2006-02-01 |id={{CHMID|102770341}}. ITCHP 44403c1a3fd53. Lot Number X7847.2017 |type=interview |publisher=Computer History Museum |series=Information Technology Corporate Histories Collection |url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/moving_image/2017/02/102770341-02-01-acc.wmv |access-date=2019-04-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403232808/https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/moving_image/2017/02/102770341-02-01-acc.wmv |archive-date=2019-04-03}}

{{cite web |title=IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing - CP/M - Microcomputer Operating System, 1974 |date=2014-04-25 |publisher=Computer History Museum |url=http://lazowska.cs.washington.edu/CPM_Program.pdf |access-date=2019-04-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403013355/http://lazowska.cs.washington.edu/CPM_Program.pdf |archive-date=2019-04-03}}

{{cite journal |title=Running 8-bit software on dual-processor computers |author-first=Gary Arlen |author-last=Kildall |author-link=Gary Arlen Kildall |journal=Electronic Design |date=1982-09-16 |page=157 |url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2016/12/102762506-05-01-acc.pdf |access-date=2017-08-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819183737/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2016/12/102762506-05-01-acc.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-19}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=651&st=1 |website=oldcomputers.com |title=Compupro 8/16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103062455/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=651 |archive-date=2016-01-03 |access-date=2011-07-13}}

{{cite journal |title=Homebrew Computer Club views Intel's superchip |author-first=Michael |author-last=Swaine |author-link=Michael Swaine (technical author) |date=1982-04-05 |journal=InfoWorld |volume=4 |number=13 |location=Palo Alto, CA, USA |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4 |access-date=2020-01-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107223947/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4 |archive-date=2020-01-07 |quote=[…] Digital Research is producing an operating system for the 286. MP/M-286 will take advantage of the processor's memory management and protection and virtual memory support. Digital Research is promising "complete" compatibility with its MP/M-86 and CP/M-86 for the 8086 processor. Intel is supplying Digital Research with the hardware to develop and test MP/M-286. […]}}

{{cite journal |title=Surviving Big Blue |author-first=Christopher H. |author-last=Bidmead |author-link=Christopher H. Bidmead |date=2006-05-09 |orig-year=1985-03-25 |series=Which Computer? |journal=Doctor Who |url=http://bidmeadia.blogspot.com/2006/05/surviving-big-blue.html |access-date=2020-01-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107223658/http://bidmeadia.blogspot.com/2006/05/surviving-big-blue.html |archive-date=2020-01-07 |quote=[…] Paul Bailey of Digital Research keenly promotes this approach; it is his company that is supplying ICL and others with Concurrent Dos-286. This chameleon operating system allows ICL and other 80286 manufacturers to build machines that will be able to cope with all the existing body of IBM-PC software -- and at the same time promise multi-tasking, windowing and true concurrency, three features that together allow a single micro to do several things at once. […] Although no firm announcements have been made, it seems certain that by the end of the year ACT will be offering a Concurrent CP/M 286 machine to fuel its drive into the corporate market. But by this time it will have to contend with IBM's own 80286 office micro, the PC/AT. […] IBM also have a software product in the offing that could pull the rug out from under the Concurrent contenders. Some 180K in size, TopView is a program for IBM PC's and AT's that beefs up the operating system to provide windowing facilities for existing 'well behaved' standard packages. […]}}

}}

{{Digital Research}}

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