Durango F-85
personal computer introduced in 1978
The Durango F-85 was an early personal computer introduced in September 1978 by Durango Systems Corporation, a company started in 1977 by George E. Comstock, John M. Scandalios and Charles L. Waggoner, all formerly of Diablo Systems. The F-85 could run its own multitasking operating system called DX-85M, which included an integral Indexed Sequential (ISAM) file system and per-task file locking, or alternatively CP/M-80. DX-85M used a text configuration file named CONFIG.SYS five years before this filename was used for a similar purpose under MS-DOS/PC DOS 2.0 in 1983.
The F-85 used single-sided 5¼-inch 100 tpi diskette drives providing 480 KB using a high-density 4/5 group coded encoding. The machine was using a Western Digital FD1781 floppy-disk controller with 77-track Micropolis drives. In later models this was expanded to a double-sided option for 960 KB (946/947 KB formatted) per diskette.
Durango later dropped the "F-85" model name and adopted a user model system, with 700 being the entry model and 950 being the full-featured model.
Still later, they designed a 80186-/80286-based 16-bit system, the Durango "Poppy"; MS-DOS was selected as the entry operating system.
See also
Group coded recording
Notes
References
Further reading
https://books.google.com/books?id=XPDvkYPCkWgC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86
https://books.google.com/books?id=Alpvxl7sBqIC&pg=RA1-PA63&lpg=RA1-PA63
https://books.google.com/books?id=qZiwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA185&lpg=PA185
External links
"Durango F85". Old Computers.
The public source identifies “Durango F-85” as personal computer introduced in 1978. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Durango, F-85 and personal.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Durango F-85”, the useful work is to connect “personal computer introduced in 1978” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12745107. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1977 and 1983.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Durango F-85”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Durango F-85 primary sources, Durango F-85 archive and Durango research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Durango F-85”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Durango F-85” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.