<s>
Columbia	B-Device
Data	I-Device
Products	I-Device
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
(	O
CDP	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
company	O
which	O
produced	O
the	O
first	O
legally	O
reverse-engineered	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
clones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Columbia	B-Device
Data	I-Device
Products	I-Device
was	O
founded	O
by	O
William	O
Diaz	O
in	O
1976	O
in	O
Columbia	O
,	O
Maryland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1980	O
,	O
Columbia	B-Device
Data	I-Device
Products	I-Device
made	O
some	O
Z80-based	O
computers	O
,	O
most	O
notably	O
their	O
Commander	O
900	O
series	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
several	O
models	O
some	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
multiprocessors	B-Operating_System
and	O
had	O
graphics	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
an	O
exact	O
functional	O
copy	O
of	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
model	O
5150	O
except	O
for	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
which	O
was	O
Clean	O
room	O
designed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
had	O
published	O
the	O
bus	B-Architecture
and	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
specifications	O
,	O
wrongly	O
assuming	O
that	O
this	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
enough	O
to	O
facilitate	O
unlicensed	O
copying	O
of	O
the	O
design	O
,	O
but	O
be	O
enough	O
to	O
encourage	O
the	O
add-on	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CDP	O
advertisements	O
stated	O
that	O
the	O
MPC	O
"	O
can	O
use	O
software	O
and	O
hardware	O
originally	O
intended	O
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Multi	O
"	O
in	O
its	O
name	O
hinted	O
to	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
it	O
could	O
also	O
run	O
the	O
multi-user	O
operating	O
system	O
MP/M	B-Operating_System
-86	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MPC	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
clone	O
and	O
was	O
actually	O
superior	O
to	O
the	O
IBM	O
original	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
came	O
with	O
128	O
KB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
standard	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
IBM	O
's	O
64KB	O
maximum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MPC	O
had	O
eight	O
PC	O
expansion	B-Device
slots	I-Device
,	O
with	O
one	O
filled	O
by	O
its	O
video	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
interface	O
was	O
built	O
into	O
the	O
motherboard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
in	O
contrast	O
,	O
had	O
only	O
five	O
expansion	B-Device
slots	I-Device
,	O
with	O
the	O
video	O
card	O
and	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
controller	O
taking	O
two	O
of	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MPC	O
also	O
included	O
two	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
,	O
one	O
parallel	O
and	O
two	O
serial	O
ports	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
all	O
optional	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
PC	O
Magazine	O
in	O
June	O
1983	O
criticized	O
the	O
MPC	O
's	O
documentation	O
,	O
but	O
reported	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
very	O
good	O
hardware	O
and	O
software	O
compatibility	O
with	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
BYTE	O
in	O
November	O
1984	O
approved	O
of	O
the	O
portable	O
MPC-VP	O
'	O
s	O
PC	O
compatibility	O
,	O
reporting	O
that	O
it	O
ran	O
Microsoft	B-Operating_System
Flight	I-Operating_System
Simulator	I-Operating_System
,	O
WordStar	B-Application
,	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
,	O
dBASE	B-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
and	O
other	O
popular	O
applications	O
without	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
1984	O
,	O
IBM	O
announced	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
their	O
first	B-Device
portable	I-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
thus	O
putting	O
pressure	O
on	O
its	O
competitors	O
in	O
this	O
niche	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
which	O
besides	O
CDP	O
already	O
included	O
Compaq	O
as	O
the	O
market	O
leader	O
in	O
this	O
segment	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Kaypro	O
,	O
TeleVideo	O
Corporation	O
,	O
and	O
Eagle	O
Computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Columbia	O
also	O
released	O
upgraded	O
desktop	O
models	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
compete	O
with	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
XT	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
MPC	O
1600-4	O
,	O
briefly	O
reviewed	O
in	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
of	O
April	O
1984	O
,	O
was	O
found	O
a	O
worthy	O
competitor	O
of	O
the	O
XT	O
and	O
without	O
major	O
compatibility	O
problems	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
its	O
hard	B-General_Concept
drive	I-General_Concept
controller	I-General_Concept
was	O
quite	O
different	O
from	O
IBM	B-Device
XT	I-Device
's	O
,	O
being	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
microprocessor	I-General_Concept
with	O
64	O
KB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
emulating	O
the	O
ASIC	O
used	O
by	O
IBM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
developed	O
and	O
licensed	O
Small	B-Architecture
Computer	I-Architecture
System	I-Architecture
Interface	I-Architecture
(	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
)	O
software	O
to	O
Western	O
Digital	O
(	O
WD	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
supplier	O
of	O
hard	B-General_Concept
drive	I-General_Concept
controllers	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1991	O
,	O
WD	O
sold	O
their	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
business	O
to	O
Future	O
Domain	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
languished	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
currently	O
specializes	O
in	O
data	B-Protocol
backup	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
