Microsoft
"Surface hardware & controllers."
The story
Childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Traf-O-Data in 1972, gaining early experience in computer programming. The pivotal moment arrived with the Altair 8800 microcomputer. Inspired by an article, Allen suggested they could program a BASIC interpreter for it. Gates boldly claimed to have a working interpreter to MITS, prompting a demonstration request.
While Allen worked on a simulator for the Altair, Gates developed the interpreter. Their demonstration in March 1975 was flawless, leading MITS to distribute it as Altair BASIC. On April 4, 1975, Gates and Allen formally established Microsoft (initially "Micro-Soft" as proposed by Allen), with Gates as CEO. The company quickly expanded, establishing its first international office in Japan by 1977 and moving its headquarters to Bellevue, Washington in 1979.
Microsoft's dominance truly began in the operating system market. After briefly dabbling with Xenix, they secured a crucial contract with IBM in 1980 to provide an OS for the IBM PC. Microsoft purchased and rebranded 86-DOS as MS-DOS, retaining ownership. This strategic move, coupled with IBM's BIOS copyright, allowed Microsoft's MS-DOS to become the standard for the burgeoning IBM PC compatible market, laying the groundwork for future success.
Challenges along the way
Microsoft has faced significant legal scrutiny and public criticism throughout its history. Since the early 1990s, the company has been involved in extensive antitrust battles, notably with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, regarding its market dominance and practices such as bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. These challenges resulted in substantial fines from the European Union and pressure to modify its product offerings. Additionally, Microsoft's software has been criticized for issues concerning ease of use, robustness, and security, and the company has drawn recent criticism for its role in providing services during conflicts.
Major milestones
- 1975Bill Gates and Paul Allen officially established Microsoft on April 4th.
- 1975United States PatentFig. 3Software, OS and hardware filingsAssignee searchRead filing ↗
- 1980Microsoft secured a pivotal contract with IBM to provide the MS-DOS operating system for the IBM Personal Computer.
- 1985Microsoft released Windows 1.0, a graphical extension for MS-DOS, marking a significant step in GUI development.
- 1986Microsoft went public with an IPO on the NASDAQ exchange, creating numerous millionaires among its employees.
- 1990Microsoft introduced the Microsoft Office suite, bundling applications like Word and Excel, which became industry standards.
- 2000Steve Ballmer took over as CEO, with Bill Gates transitioning to Chief Software Architect.
- 2001Microsoft launched Windows XP, unifying its OS lines, and entered the video game console market with the Xbox.
- 2014Satya Nadella became CEO, shifting the company's focus toward cloud computing and enterprise services.
Prototypes & people
