CFOG's PIP, July 1987, Volume 5 No. 9, Whole No. 57, page 3
Adventures with Ozzie and Kaypro
by Kevin P. Murphy
(c) Copyright 1987 Kevin P. Murphy, all rights reserved.
I have been using an Osborne 1 microcomputer for approximately five years. During that time, I have witnessed, as has anyone else who has been at all active with such equipment, the demise of Osborne, Otrona, Zorba, and a near host of interesting, but ultimately unsuccessful computers, as IBM threw its unquestioned weight behind the MS-DOS/PCDOS operating systems, sounding the death knell of the once-dominant CP/M operating system. Or did it?
My computer equipment, which has served my needs admirably for the past five years, is getting old. I have replaced four disk drives since purchasing my Osborne, two of them under warranty, and two after the big O went belly up. Fortunately, CFOG included a member, Mark Witt, who offered a service contract after Osbornes became so much rough paper towelling. Thanks to Mark, my other two drives were replaced painlessly, quickly, professionally and economically. However, I learned that Mark was probably not going to continue offering the service contract, and my thoughts have been turning toward alternatives over the past year or so.
Feeling the inexorable march of time, and the increasing probability that my Osborne would again experience drive failure, I researched the IBM clone offerings, and worked a bit with MS-DOS computers while refreshing my limited knowledge of the BASIC language. Some of the prices have been tempting. A newcomer can get into MS-DOS-land cheaply, but I believe that one can also lose a lot by "converting." It's a price that, ultimately, I was unwilling to pay. Thus, after months of reading about this and that IBM clone (I have an aversion to IBM, itself, since IBM seems to follow the state of the art rather than to lead it), I made the selection. While some of the clones were impressive, I found the "offer that I couldn't refuse" in a new Kaypro 2X. Yep, CP/M, and all. And I love it.
Understand that I'm not a complete stranger to Kaypro, having worked for about a year with the Kaypro 4 and the Kaypro 10. Never-the-less, the Kaypro had to be priced so that I could seriously justify buying it.
Since purchasing the Kaypro, I have transferred files -- and some programs -- from the Osborne to the Kaypro, and I no longer worry about the failure of my Osborne, which continues to work like a champ. Now, I follow the procedure of doing all new work on the Kaypro, but rely on the Osborne to run some software, like DBASE II, that is specific to my Osborne. So, when I want to run a mailing for a local organization, I set the Osborne to printing labels while I enter new material into the Kaypro.
What differences have I observed between the "computer that is what the Osborne should have been," and the Osborne, itself? For one, I like the full display that is possible with the Kaypro. It is much easier to work with a full 65 character line as contrasted to the 52 characters of my Osborne. Second, it seems to me, too, that the Kaypro screen updates faster than the Osborne, but that is a subjective impression. Third, the Kaypro offers about twice the disk capacity of my SSDD Osborne, and that is a great improvement. Other than that, I find them equally enjoyable to work with.
While they were each originally described as portable computers, when compared to a truly portable computer, like the Radio Shack Model 100 lap portable, each seems about 3 ounces lighter than an IBM mainframe computer! Portability, however, was not my concern. Reliability, flexibility, "bundling" of useful software were among my concerns. Whatever his faults as a corporate chief executive, Adam Osborne, bless him, bundled an amazing amount of software with his improbable machine, and democratized the computer world. Kaypro armor-plated the Osborne and may have created a launching platform for the next microcomputer "revolution," which brings us to a question frequently raised in predominantly MS-DOS oriented publications, "Isn't CP/M really dead?"
Obviously, for those of us who are satisfied with the vast library of software that already exists, and that is still being expanded, albeit more slowly these days than in the mighty MS-DOS universe, it is not dead. Not yet. But what about tomorrow?
Would you believe a CP/M-based computer that can run rings around the highly-touted IBM PC/AT, the so-called standard of the microcomputer business world? Imagine, a CP/M computer that addresses up to 16 megabytes of RAM and runs at 12 MHz, while retaining compatibility with existing CP/M programs and files. Is CP/M dead? Or has IBM, with its latest product announcement, OS/2, simply abandoned the non-corporate universe, leaving a Mac-vacuum for CP/M to fill? Well, if the new Z280 "Ultra Board" replacement for the Z8O microchip produces the results promised, the next generation of super-microcomputers may run the CP/M operating system. AND, it will be offered in an upgrade for the Kaypro 2X for under $500!! [For full information on the the Ullra Board, see the separate article in this issue. -- bhc]
Five years ago, I nervously chose Osborne, with its idiotically small screen and World War II Jeep radio chassis, over the slick, large screen IBM PC, the Hewlett Packard offerings (the HP25 and another improbable little computer that few probably remember), and others too expensive to consider. At the time, I wondered if it would prove to be a wise choice, but I haven't regretted it yet. And the best may be yet to come. Just imagine: the Kaypro 2X, "The Super-Microcomputer of the 1990's." Yeeeeee-hah!