Category: Microsoft

Here continues, the history of Microsoft…

New Ventures: 1995—1997

Feb 1994: MS has acquired Softimage Inc, a company from Canada.

Nov 14, 1994: The new slogan of MS “Where Do You Want to Go Today?” comes about. The campaign was introduced in a SoHo in New York (a restaurant chain owned by Robert DeNiro).

Jan 1995: Bill Gates has announced Microsoft Bob, an interactive application supposed to simplify PC tasks. Bob went on to become a phenomenal failure in Microsoft’s history, causing it to be withdrawn from production soon.

Mar 1995: Microsoft and DreamWorks join hands to form DreamWorks Interactive that will produce interactive, entertainment software.

Aug 1995: On 24 Aug 1995, Microsoft releases Windows 95, which would become enormously successful selling a million copies within the first four days of release. Also released was MS Office 95. This month marks the release of the most important web browser for two decades, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and the major portal called MSN.

Sept 1995: SideWinder 3D Pro, a gaming joystick from Microsoft is released.

Dec 1995: Microsoft signs a pact with NBC to create MSNBC, an interactive news channel (MSNBC would go live in June 1996). Microsoft has announced over 20 products and technologies related to the development of Internet. They include MSN, Internet Explorer, and a number of others.

Jan 1996: Microsoft has acquired Vermeer Technologies. This would pave way to the creation of Microsoft FrontPage, the HTML editing software from the company.

Apr 1996: The Microsoft Exchange Server is made available to users. This is an email and calendar application available from Microsoft server so that clients can use it over a network.

Sept 1996: Windows CE (Embedded Compact) is announced. This is the first ever project from Microsoft for mobile devices. This version is specifically created for machines with low hardware features, supporting x86 and ARM architectures. WinCE gets released directly to OEMs just like the current Windows RT; many people think CE stands for ‘Compact Edition’ or ‘Concise Edition’, including me, previously. Also released are Windows NT Workstation and Server.

Oct 1996: MSN goes online through its website.

Nov 1996: MS Flight Simulator game is released for the Windows platform. Previously it was available only for Macintosh.

Jan 16, 1997: Bill Gates releases MS Office Suite 97. The new application Outlook 97 is packaged into this version. FrontPage and Access are not yet part of the suite.

Aug 1997: Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Bill Gates come together with a 150 million dollar investment in Apple by Microsoft. They outline product and technology development together.

Sept 1997: Internet Explorer 4.0 gets released.

Oct 1997: Age of Empires strategy game gets released by Microsoft Studios, developed by Ensemble Studios. The strategy game would go on to become one of the most successful and would cause the development of other strategy games. Sun Microsystems sues Microsoft for its wrong implementation of Java platform.

Dec 1997: One of Microsoft’s most important acquisitions happens with Hotmail. Hotmail was developed by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith in July 1996 as HoTMaiL, and it went on to become one of the premier provider of internet based email.

Web Monopoly: 1998—2000

May 1998: The US Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general file an antitrust lawsuit against MS. This is another great story, the story of Internet Explorer. There was Netscape, a very popular browser, and Microsoft extended support for IE on Win98, and used its monopoly in OS market to create market for IE and dethrone Netscape. This was the reason why the US Justice Dept. sued Microsoft.

The company eventually failed the lawsuit and had to separate its OS and software business so that software companies would have a better opportunity to develop software for the Windows platform. However, US Court of Appeals would reverse this decision in 2001.

June 1998: Windows 98 gets released. This and the upgrade known as Second Edition have been known to be very stable.

July 1998: Steve Ballmer becomes the President of Microsoft. Also released software include Windows Media Player, Encarta Africana, Windows NT NetShow Services, and NetShow Theater Server.

Oct 1998: Microsoft releases the Microsoft Cordless Phone System that interfaces with the computer to manage telephone functions.

Feb 1999: Microsoft has its online store at shop.microsoft.com.

Mar 1999: IE 5.0 gets released with over a million downloads, solidly placing it as the main browser.

June 1999: MSN Mobile is launched. Also released is Office Professional 2000, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, Publisher.

July 1999: The launch of MSN Messenger.

Sept 1999: Age of Empires game has its second version released, the Age of Kings.

Nov 1999: Microsoft releases its multiplayer online game, Asheron’s Call. Microsoft Passport goes live. This is one of the first instances of online wallet.

Jan 2000: Bill Gates becomes the chairman and chief software architect of MS, and appoints Steve Ballmer the CEO.

Feb 2000: On 17 Feb, MS has released Windows 2000 Professional (the first operating system that I have experienced).

April 2000: Announced software includes Microsoft Project 2000, Visio 2000 (by virtue of an acquisition), etc.

Jul 2000: MSN becomes the most widely used website in the world with over 201 million visitors during the previous month.

Sept 2000: â€œInside Out Microsoft – In Our Own Words” a book written by over a thousand MS employees goes to the hands of every MS employee. This book commemorates the 25^th year of the company. The celebrations of the 25^th year anniversary starts in Safeco Field, Seattle on Sept 5. This month MS also released Windows ME (Millennium Edition).

Age of eXPerience: 2001—2002

Jan 2001: Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have settled their lawsuit started back in 1997.

May 30, 2001: Office XP was released. It was also known as Office 10.

Oct 2001: Windows XP is here! The most important version of Windows ever! And it has become extremely popular during the last decade. Win XP was launched at the Marriott Marquis Theatre in New York City Times Square.

Nov 2001: Microsoft launches Xbox gaming console along with five games including the popular Halo.

Feb 2002: .NET Framework, one of the most important cross-platform application programming interfaces of Microsoft is launched. This coincides with the launch of Visual Studio .NET, the programming language suite containing Visual Basic, Visual C++, C#, etc.

Oct 2002: Microsoft unveils MSN 8 at New York Central Park.

Nov 2002: MS launches the online gaming service, Xbox Live with Starter Kit. The first Windows XP tablet PCs are also launched.

Rewarding Financial Success: 2003—2004

Jan 2003: The first annual dividend of the MS stock has been announced.

April 2003: Launch of Windows Server 2003.

HP Superdome Server running 64-bit Windows Server 2003. In 2003, this was the fastest computer in the world

Jun 2003: Windows Mobile 2003 is announced.

Sept 2003: MS launches Office Live Meeting, a web conferencing service.

Oct 2003: Office Professional 2003 is released. This version had radically redesigned interface.

Apr 2004: Microsoft and Sun Microsystems join hands for technology development.

Jul 2004: Board of directors decides to return over 75 billion dollars to the shareholders through annual dividends or share buyback program. See how profitable MS stock has been over the years. Starck Mouse was developed, a highly ergonomic optical mouse.

Aug 2004: Windows XP SP 2 with Advanced Security Technologies was released. This included Windows Firewall, Pop-up Blocker, and Windows Security Center.

Sept 2004: Microsoft fingerprint reader has been released. It works on Windows XP and Vista.

Oct 2004: Bill Gates releases Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Also released was Office Professional 2004 with Virtual PC for Macintosh.

Nov 2004: The popular game, Halo has its second version released. The sales exceed 2 million copies within a day.

The story of Microsoft continues in page 4.

[Image credit: Microsoft]

Here continues the story of Microsoft…

The Age of Windows: 1985

Jan 1985: Microsoft has created MacEnhancer that gives Apple Macintosh support for a number of peripherals used in IBM PC. This is an indication of the acceptance of Macintosh along with DOS-powered IBM PC.

Aug 1985: Microsoft and IBM get into an agreement to create computer operating systems and other basic software. Also, Microsoft has started development of its new headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Sept 1985: Microsoft has its first production facility in Ireland. During this time, Office products like Excel were released for Apple Macintosh as well.

November, 1985: MICROSOFT WINDOWS RETAIL VERSION GETS RELEASED! This is probably the most important product ever from any software company in the history of the world.

Windows 1.0 had non-overlapping programs

 

A Public Company: 1986

Feb 1986: MS moves to its new headquarters in Redmond, Washington. [[image]]

Mar, 1986: CD-ROM technology is in its initial stage of development.

March 13, 1986: Microsoft IPO, marking the advent of one of the most lucrative trading stocks in the history of business. It started with 21 dollars per share and stands at about 29 dollars today after nine stock splits and regular dividend payments since 2003 (this means NASDAQ: MSFT is an extremely profitable and reliable stock to purchase even today).

Sept 1986: Microsoft releases a patch that incorporates support for CD-ROMs on MS-DOS.

Oct 1986: One of the most important publications by MS, MSJ (Microsoft Systems Journal) is released for the first time. Later on, it would get incorporated to the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network). Microsoft Works software suite gets released for Apple Macintosh.

A Highly Recognizable Brand: 1987—1989

Feb 1987: Microsoft has a new logo that becomes the brand identity until recently when Microsoft changed its logo.

Apr 1987: Microsoft and IBM’s joint venture signed back in 1985 has its first product, OS/2 was released. The collaboration between IBM and MS would break up in the future due to differences in opinion and MS’s tremendous success with its competing product, Windows.

Jul 1987: Birth of Microsoft PowerPoint with the acquisition of Forethought, the company that developed this presentation software.

Aug 1987: Microsoft releases a new mouse, fondly called “Dove Soap Bar”. This was a plug-and-play mouse, the first one of its kind.

Sept 1987: The first ever CD from Microsoft, Bookshelf, gets released. It was a collection of ten reference works.

Oct 1987: Microsoft announces MS Excel spreadsheet program for Windows personal computers. The first version supporting Macintosh was released earlier. Microsoft acquired InterMail, an email application developed by Interactive Network Technologies Inc.

Apr 1988: Microsoft has moved its development and distribution division to 245,000 sqft campus in Canyon Park industrial complex, Bothell, Washington.

Jun 1988: MS hires Mike Maples from IBM to head its software division as vice president.

Oct 1988: Microsoft kick-starts its educational ventures with the announcement of educational software that will include lite versions of Microsoft software.

Nov 1988: David Cutler joins Microsoft. He was a self-taught expert in computer software technology, and he spear-headed the development of Windows NT released in 1993. He was the head of development of all the subsequent versions of Microsoft Windows. In 2007, he was given the Microsoft Technical Recognition Award. Also, Microsoft has released the SDK (Software Development Kit) for Windows, causing an array of Windows applications to be developed in the coming years.

May 1989: SQL Server ships. This is the first relational database development language based on Sybase technology. This was a joint venture with Ashton-Tate Corporation.

June 1989: Microsoft Office gets released! It would go on to become one of the most successful software suites in history. It incorporated Excel, Word, Mail and PowerPoint. The first version of the suite was released for Apple Macintosh computers, extending seamless support for the friendly competition from Apple.

 

The Beginning of Monopoly: 1990—1993

Jan 1990: MS Word gets released for Windows.

Mar 1990: Nathan Myhrvold becomes vice president of advanced technology and business development (he joined MS in 1986. He later grew into chief technology officer at MS and founded Microsoft Research in 1991.

May 1990: Windows 3.0 gets released on May 22. Among other things, the popular card game Solitaire was also released this month.

July 1990: Microsoft’s net annual sales exceeded 1 billion USD.

Aug 1990: Microsoft Consulting Services Group is formed. This division works with other companies analyzing their technology requirements and promoting Microsoft products that will create profit for them.

Oct 1990: Microsoft has packaged the four important productivity programs into the MS Office Suite and made it available for Windows now. It has already been available for Macintosh.

Nov 1990: Bill Gates has delivered his ‘Information at Your Fingertips’ speech (IAYF) at Comdex (a technology convention conducted in fall every year). The original speech was not to be found, but I have a video here of the speech done in 1994 Comdex that continues the original IAYF concept by Bill Gates. This is an amazing speech that any technology enthusiast will find entertaining.

1991: The major software released this year includes Microsoft Visual Basic Professional for MS-DOS, Excel 2.0, MS-DOS version 5, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Works for Windows, and Microsoft Money.

Mar 1991: Microsoft has designed a new mouse known as ball point mouse for laptops.

June 1991: Launch of MS-DOS 5.0. Also, this month Microsoft was connected to the TCP/IP Internet available nationwide. It’s another great story, the development of the Internet.

Sept 1991: The Microsoft research group has been formed and Richard F Rashid was roped in to lead it.

1992: Major software launches include MS Access database management system, FoxPro, etc.

Jan 1992: Jeff Raikes becomes the senior vice president of marketing, sales, and service in the US. He would later become the CEO of MS’s charity wing, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mar 1992: MS and Fox Software merge.

Apr 1992: Windows 3.1 for Workgroups has been released.

Jul 1992: MSDN, the Microsoft Developer Network takes birth. This would flourish to become one of the largest developer communities out there causing the development of hundreds of thousands of applications for Windows.

1993: Major software releases this year include MS Encarta, Windows NT, SQL Server for Win NT 4.2, Microsoft Fine Artist, etc.

Mar 1993: Microsoft Encarta gets released. This would go on to become the premier educational software for the decade, overshadowing even the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Apr 1993: Microsoft has designed the MS mouse 2.0 with a better design matching today’s mice. On Apr 23, Frank Gaudette, executive VP of Operations Group, passes away due to cancer.

May 1993: Windows NT (New Technology) and NT Advanced Server get released. This is one of the most important releases of Windows yet, supporting both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures at that time.

Oct 1993: Microsoft Home, a new brand (just like Live, Bing, etc.) has been announced. This brand would create a number of multimedia applications for both Windows and Macintosh.

[Image Credit: Microsoft]