North Star Computers

North Star Computers was one of the earliest manufacturers of microcomputers. Before they started making their first computer, the North Star Horizon, they made floppy disk drives for S-100 bus computers. They included a disk operating system called North Star DOS (or N*DOS). The Horizon used the North Star disk controller and operating system. It was one of the first microcomputers that had multi-user features.

Their second computer, called the North Star Advantage, ran CP/M, and had the keyboard and monitor built-in. The graphics were very powerful for their time. When the IBM PC came out, North Star made an MS-DOS compatible processor card that could be added to the Advantage.

Their third computer, the North Star Dimension, was multi-user like the Horizon, but MS-DOS based.

Because their products in the early 1980s were only MS-DOS compatible, not fully PC compatible, they never sold very many, and the company went out of business.

North Star Computers Media

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  The North Star Horizon computer, pictured with a terminal and floppy disks.