Kaypro Computer History Phil Clayton

This is an older write-up that is commonly found on MIT’s website. While much of the information is useful there is a few memories he wrote that don’t match the historical record. I have tried to go through it looking for the major ones and corrections can be found in square brackets. I have not proofed it for actual dates. I have also not fixed any typos in the original.

Introduction

Kaypro Computer History
From: Phil Clayton
Date: Tue Sep 28 22:06:43 1999

Since everyone is on the subject of Kaypro here is some information that I have compiled from articles I have read.. Kaypro BTW is my favorite computer I have at least one of every model in my collection, excluding a Kaypro Robie.. ALso have a Model 16 .. Perhaps someone could update this list and ad to it.. The more information the better.. Hope this is of some interest to everyone.. Phil...

Kaypro Computer and Non-Linear Systems

After Adam Osborne came out with the O-1, it was immediately set up as a target. Every company started shooting at the magic price of $1800. Among the people to set their sights at this figure was Alan [Andrew/Andy] Kay. Alan [Andrew] had originally started a company which sold oscilloscopes [actually mostly voltmeters] called Non-Linear Systems. He decided Osborne had the right idea, but needed a little tweaking on the case. [The concept for the computer predates the Osbourne but the development of the machine began after the Osbourne was released.] He envisioned a computer which would not only be rugged enough to be carried around, but would be tough enough to be carried out in the field by engineers. With this idea in mind, he designed the Kaypro Computer.

The case was made of aluminum which allowed it to be extremely rugged, but still save a little weight. These are sometimes nicknamed "Darth Vader's lunch box." Needless to say, this case passed the test for ruggedness. Except for the Robie and later DOS machines, all Kaypros had the same case and varying shades of gray [or blue] paint.

All the computers came bundled with software, originally the Perfect Series, but later WordStar and SuperCalc.

Kay originally sold his computers under the company name of Kaypro [I think he misremembered this. Kaycomp was the original marketing name but it is likely no machines were intentionally sold under that name], but it turned out this name [K-comp] had already been taken. He then sold the computers under the Non-Linear name [the machines were sold as Kaypro but labeled as being made by Non-linear Systems], but was able to keep the Kaypro name on the computers. Somewhere along the way, he did manage to acquire the rights to Kaypro Company, but it was late in the company's life. [No evidence of needing the rights to Kaypro.]

The Kaypro II is the oldest computer Kaypro made. It has SSDD disks and the screen is green and it has the standard 64 K of RAM.

After Kaypro left Chapter 11, they came out with several DOS compatibles, [They introduced DOS machines in 1985 and filed for Chapter 11 in 1990] but were no longer considered a force in the industry. There were several unique units that came out including some extremely compact units that were designed to be desktop computers but were light enough to be carried from place to place.

Kaypro II

In the beginning there was the Kaypro II (aka II'83 later). It came with 2 SS/DD full-height floppies, a 2.5 MHz Z-80, one serial port, and bundled software from Perfect Software. Introduced late 82. [July 1982]

Kaypro 10

Next was the original Kaypro 10. It came with 1 DS/DD floppy drive, a 10 meg HD, a 4.0 MHz Z-80A, two serial ports, light pen port, rudimentary graphics, a real time clock, and software from Perfect Software and dBase II. Introduced mid-83.

Kaypro IV

Then there was a Kaypro IV (aka IV'83 later) [The machine was label as the Kaypro 4, the marketing photos and the CPM software had the IV]. It was a II, but with DS/DD full-height floppy drives. Wordstar started being included in addition to the Perfect Software suite. Introduced in mid-83. (Same goes for the II'83, late versions included Wordstar also.)

1984 rolls around, and some changes made.

Kaypro 4

The 4 (aka 4'84) is introduced. It now has two DS/DD half-height floppy drives, a Z-80A at 4.0 MHz, 2 serial ports, internal 300 baud modem, a real-time clock, rudimentary graphics. Software is from Micropro (Wordstar, Calcstar, etc.) Early 1984.

Kaypro 2

The 2 (aka 2'83) [there were some machines identical to the Kaypro II that were labeled as Kaypro 2, but I think he meant to say (aka 2’84)] is introduced. It has two SS/DD half-height floppy drives, a Z-80A at 4.0 MHz, 2 serial ports, rudimentary graphics. Software is from Micropro. Slightly later in 84.

Kaypro 2X

The 2X is introduced. This is closer to an old IV, or a 2 with DS/DD half-height drives. Again a Z-80A running at 4.0 MHz, 2 serial ports, rudimentary graphics, software from Micropro.

Kaypro Robbie

Early 84. The Kaypro Robie is introduced. This is the first non-portable machine, a black desktop. This has 2 2.6 Megabyte (not a typo) floppy drives. Motherboard is basically the same as a 4, with the 300 baud modem, rough graphics, etc. (late 84?)

1985 arrives. Kaypro upgrades most of the machines to the "Universal ROM", [it should say “Universal Mianboard” also these were upgraded for the most part when the 2’84 and 4’84 were released] so a boot disk for one can be used in another.

The 4'84 is renamed the 2X (sometimes known as 2X MTC). Old 2X, 2'84, 4'84 are all dropped.

Kaypro New 2

The "New 2" is introduced. This is basically an old 2X motherboard[mainboard, a motherboard has slots for daughter cards, these machines do not], but with just one DS/DD floppy drive. It comes with just CP/M and Wordstar for software. (early 85?) Kaypro starts producing the II'83 again, with Perfect software as opposed to Micropro software. (early 85). [I haven’t seen any evidence for returning to the II’83.]

Kaypro 4X

The Kaypro 4X is announced. It's a Robie but in the standard portable case. I also have seen reference to the 12X, which was going to be a Kaypro 10 but with a Robie floppy drive. (I've never actually seen a 4X or a 12X. The store where I worked might have sold only one or two Robies, so it wasn't a big seller.) [A 4X does exist.]

1986 or so arrives.

Kaypro 1

The Kaypro 1 (yes one) is introduced. It's equivalent to the old 2X, with 2 DS/DD floppies, 4.0 MHz Z-80A, 2 serial ports, etc. The floppies are vertical as opposed to horizontal. It comes with CP/M and Perfect Writer for software.

At this point, Kaypro is producing just the 1, 2X MTC, 10 and Robie [at this point I don’t believe the Robie is still around] basically. This continued until they got out of the CP/M machines.

There were also a few variations on some of these machines, such as the 4+88, which had a SWP (?) co-processor board with an 8088, 256K of memory (which could be a ramdisk under CP/M), and could run some MS/Dos software.