Imagine if IBM had went with CP/M instead of MS-DOS, where would we be today?............
In the early 1980's, I visited Digital Research as part of a team (engineering manager, marketing managoer, and me, the software guy) to investigate using CP/m (CP/m-86, IIRC) for a new PC product that we were developing.
Their offices were impressive (the 2nd floor conference room had an incredible panoramic view of Monterey Bay) and the people seemed, at least initially, quite friendly. I did pick up, though, on an air of superiority, bordering on arrogance, that permeated our discussion. It was as if they were doing us a huge favor by meeting with us. (We never saw Gary Kildall because, apparently, he had decided that it was more important to go sailing that day than to meet with a potential major customer.)
Long story short (I know, too late) - we ended up going with the computer manufacturer's OEM version of MS-DOS and the project failed spectacularly, as did D/R and the computer manufacturer some time afterwards.