-
The beginning
Bill Gates and Paul Allen wanted to make their programming language work on Altair 8800 which was the first successful PC.
It was programmed with lights and switches on the front so they thought that a basic interpreter would make it way more easier using a keyboard.
Their first product was Altair Basic which became very popular. -
The SoftCard
It was the first hardware product and it was used as mother card on Apple II. -
Microsoft and IBM
In this year Microsoft agreed to produce DOS for IBM and this helped them to quickly become a software giant. -
Period: to
Value increase
Their revenue increased from 16 mln USD to 97 mln USD in just 3 years. -
Microsoft Word
First version of the program. -
Windows 1.0
Microsoft had the goal to increase the graphics quality on computer's monitors. This was the primitive version of the OS that they still use today.
At the time it was a bit criticised for relying too much on the mouse which most of the PCs didn''t have at the time. -
Windows 3.0
It was the firs to use actual graphical icons to present programs and files using 256 different colours.
Together with Windows 3.0 they released the first version of Microsoft Office.
In those years Windows became the most popular graphic OS in the world. -
Windows 95
This version introduced the smart menu, the present windows desktop model and the taskbar. -
MSNBC
It was a partnership that created an interactive TV channel using online news. -
Internet Explorer as part of the OS
With Windows 98 Explorer was incorporated as a basic program of the operating system. -
Windows ME
This version released at the beginning of the new millennium was so buggy that ME (which stood for millennial version) was ironically substituted by "Mistake Edition". -
Windows XP
After Windows ME flop they immediately recovered with the great Windows XP. -
XBox
The same year in which Microsoft released Windows XP they presented their first console XBox to compete with the dominant PlayStation made by SONY.
This release marked the date on which Microsoft started diversifying their areas of competence towards the future.