North Star Computers
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Founded | June 1, 1976 in Berkeley, California, United States |
| Founder | Mark Greenberg, Charles Grant |
| Defunct | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Berkeley, California (original), later San Leandro, California , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | S-100 bus computers, floppy disk systems, North Star BASIC interpreter, servers supporting DOS and Novell NetWare |
North Star Computers Inc.—later known simply as NorthStar—was an American technology firm headquartered in Berkeley, California that operated from June 1976 until 1989. Originally established as a mail order distributor for IMSAI computer systems, the company quickly became influential within the nascent microcomputer industry. NorthStar earned a reputation for offering affordable floppy disk solutions tailored to S-100 bus platforms and eventually launched its own line of S-100 bus computers running either the CP/M operating system or its proprietary NSDOS. Its North Star BASIC interpreter became a popular variant of the BASIC programming language. Over time, NorthStar introduced dual-processor systems compatible with MS-DOS, as well as server products supporting DOS or Novell NetWare environments.
Although initially successful, NorthStar’s dependence on hard sector floppy drive technology limited software compatibility and constrained its market penetration. Competitors such as the Osborne and Kaypro provided more affordable CP/M computers featuring integrated displays and soft-sectored drives, which contributed to NorthStar’s declining sales amid the rapid growth of the personal computer market.
History
Mark Greenberg and Charles Grant founded the company in June 1976 under the name Kentucky Fried Computer in Berkeley, focusing on retail and mail order sales of IMSAI systems. Following a legal challenge from Kentucky Fried Chicken, the business was rebranded as North Star Computers.
FPB
The company’s first offering was the Floating Point Board, an S-100 bus expansion card that added floating point coprocessing capabilities to Intel 8080-based computers. NorthStar subsequently broadened its portfolio with RAM expansion boards and Z80A CPU cards.
Micro-Disk System (1976)
The MDS represented a hard-sectored 5-inch floppy disk solution with an 89 kB storage capacity. It utilized a Shugart SA-400 drive mechanism paired with an S-100 bus controller containing ROM-based bootstrap software. Bundled with North Star DOS and North Star BASIC, the unit was priced at US$699. It was compatible across all S-100 bus machines and simplified system startup by eliminating manual loader input in favor of a straightforward run address configuration.
Later iterations of the system supported double-density disks (180 kB) and double-sided double-density formats (360 kB). However, announcing the enhanced double-density model prematurely resulted in a sharp drop in sales of the original single-density version, nearly causing financial collapse—a classic case illustrating the Osborne effect.
North Star Horizon (1977)
The Horizon was an 8-bit computer powered by a 4 MHz Zilog Z80A processor, equipped with between 16 KB and 64 KB of RAM. It featured one or two single-sided floppy drives capable of single or double-density hard-sectored operation, with options for external drive expansion. The system included serial ports for connecting terminals and printers and ran either CP/M or North Star’s proprietary NSDOS operating system. By integrating multiple components typically requiring separate S-100 cards directly onto its motherboard, the Horizon offered near-immediate usability with minimal assembly.
Introduced in November 1977, the Horizon was among the earliest microcomputers to incorporate built-in floppy drives. Its chassis allowed installation of up to twelve additional S-100 cards, including memory expansions. Pricing started at US$1,599 for a single-drive kit and went up to US$2,349 for a fully assembled model featuring two drives.
Initial versions were housed in wooden cases adorned with a stylized "NorthStar" logo; subsequent models transitioned to all-metal enclosures bearing distinct "North Star" branding.
North Star Advantage (1982)
The Advantage was a comprehensive computer system operating at 4 MHz with a Z80A processor, equipped with 64 KB of RAM for user applications and an additional 20 KB dedicated to graphics. It featured two double-sided, double-density floppy drives, each with a capacity of 360 kB, and offered an optional 5 MB Winchester hard disk. Noted for its 640×240 pixel graphics resolution, the system came bundled with four demo programs. An optional co-processor board featuring an Intel 8088 chip allowed compatibility with MS-DOS version 1.0. When launched, North Star shifted its main office, manufacturing facilities, and storage to 14440 Catalina Street in San Leandro, California, where it stayed until the company’s closure.
North Star Dimension (1984)
By 1982, North Star had reached $41 million in revenue and posted a net profit of $3.69 million after taxes. However, intensifying competition from the IBM PC led to a decline in demand for its CP/M-based machines, causing losses in 1983. To counteract this downturn, North Star introduced the Dimension—a server system marking its first fully PC-compatible product line. This system was powered by an Intel 80186 processor serving as the server core, paired with multiple Intel 8086 workstation cards connected to separate monitors and keyboards. The Dimension came pre-installed with MS-DOS and optionally supported Novell NetWare, representing one of the earliest adoptions of this networking software. This forward-looking product approach successfully reversed sales declines and doubled profits by mid-1984.
After 1984
In August 1984, Fortune Systems Corporation—a Unix workstation manufacturer based in Redwood City, California—provided North Star with $3.7 million in debt financing and entered into acquisition discussions valued at $14 million. Although these negotiations fell through by October, both companies agreed to cooperate on future hardware development projects.
Among North Star’s later products were the Dimension 300 upgrade released in 1987 and the EL series of multi-user ISA expansion cards designed for PCs running Intel 8088, 286, and 386 processors in 1988. Despite pursuing growth through innovative products and strategic alliances, North Star ultimately ceased operations in 1989.