North Star Computers

North Star Computers Inc. (later styled as NorthStar™) was an American computer company based in Berkeley, California existing between June 1976 (when according to popular rumor it was formed as "Kentucky Fried Computers") and 1984. Originally a mail order business for IMSAI computers, it soon developed into a major player in the early microcomputer market, becoming first known for their low-cost floppy disk system for S-100 bus machines, and later for their own S-100 bus computers running either the CP/M operating system or North Star's own proprietary operating system, NSDOS. North Star BASIC was a common dialect of the popular BASIC programming language. They later expanded their lineup with dual-CPU machines able to run MS-DOS, and a server version running either DOS or Novell NetWare.

While initially successful, North Star's sales suffered from the company's adherence to hard sector floppy drives which made software difficult to port onto North Star machines. It was no longer a significant factor in the industry by the time less-expensive CP/M computers with built-in displays (and soft-sectored drives), such as the Osborne and the Kaypro, were released. Sales slowed during the growth of the PC market, and the company folded in 1984.

The company was formed by Mark Greenberg and Charles Grant, who started Kentucky Fried Computer to handle retail and mail order sales of IMSAI computers in Berkeley in June 1976. According to one source, a lawsuit from Kentucky Fried Chicken led to the name change.

North Star's first product was the Floating Point Board, an S-100 bus card that implemented a floating point coprocessor for 8080-based machines. The company later added RAM boards and Z80A processor cards to their lineup.

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