TRS-80.org » Vernon Hester

MULTIDOS

Matthew Reed — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:10:00 +0000

MULTIDOS was one of the major TRS-80 operating systems, described in advertisements as “the most compatible, user friendly operating system on the market.” It was written by Vernon Hester, the author of ULTRADOS, and was in some ways a continuation of that operating system. MULTIDOS was the least expensive TRS-80 operating system and also the one with the most recent update (MULTIDOS 5.1 in 2005). It was also the only TRS-80 operating system to offer software compatible versions for the TRS-80 Model I, Model III, Model 4, and the Lobo MAX-80.

ULTRADOS was an earlier TRS-80 operating system for the Model I that was sold by Level IV Products. After Vernon Hester parted ways with Level IV Products in 1981, he began writing a completely new operating system. This operating system, which was briefly advertised as ULTRA-II, soon became known as MULTIDOS. Vernon Hester originally sold MULTIDOS through his company, Cosmopolitan Electronics Corporation. The Model I version of MULTIDOS was released in late 1981 and the Model III version was released in January 1982. The price started out at $79.95 but soon increased to $99.95. Later on, MAX-80 MULTIDOS was released in late 1983 and Model 4 MULTIDOS (originally known as MULTIDOS 80/64) in 1985.

ULTRADOS

Matthew Reed — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:55:51 +0000

ULTRADOS was the first TRS-80 operating system written by Vernon Hester. Introduced in September 1980, ULTRADOS was sold by Level IV Products, a software and hardware retailer based in Michigan. The regular price for ULTRADOS was $119.95 but the introductory price of $89.95 lasted for several months. ULTRADOS was for the Model I only; there never was a Model III version.

Originally called Level IV DOS, ULTRADOS began life as a heavily patched version of Model I TRSDOS. However, Vernon Hester made so many modifications that ULTRADOS bore little resemblance to TRSDOS. ULTRADOS was a very stable operating system with the bugs of TRSDOS corrected.

An Interview With J. Weaver Jr.

Matthew Reed — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:14:25 +0000

J. Weaver Jr. is the author of the TRS-80 games Outhouse, Chicken, Rally, Vexus, Planetbuster, Yield, and Pulsar. In this interview, conducted in October 2008, I had the opportunity to ask him some questions about his games and his memories of the TRS-80.