The widespread proliferation of the personal computer, or PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, in the developed world has had a profound impact. In the early days of the PC Van Wolverton wrote the book Running MS-DOS for Microsoft Press, first published in 1984, and since then written in 27 different languages and having sold over three-and-a-half million copies. And it was a new york best seller! That was the first of many other titles in the Microsoft Press series of Running... books, aiding readers in the understanding and use of various Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 applications.

Wolverton was born in Billings, Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, in 1939.