In January of 1975, two childhood friends unknowingly embarked on a quest to bring the world one of the giants of technology, Microsoft.
Where it all began . . .
Original founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote and subsequently sold a programming language (called BASIC) to IBM. By April of the same year, Micro-soft, a term Allen and Gates say perfectly describes their company microcomputers/software, was founded. By 1981, Microsoft incorporated in Washington state and introduced their second successful, but by far more profitable, product- MS DOS. Illness and some internal discord let to the February 18th 1983 departure of founding partner Paul Allen. However, he didn’t disappear from the company entirely; as he remained on the board for Microsoft and served as Vice Chairman for many years.
1989 saw the release of Microsoft Office- and white collar employees around the globe rejoiced in justified Window’s glee. 1994, was a great personal year for Mr. Gates as he married Melinda French (Gates). The next year brought the introduction of Internet Explorer as an option on Windows 95. Several more OS (operating systems) were introduced before the end of 1999.
At the start of the new millennium, Microsoft saw some major changes.
Bill Gates stepped down as CEO, as he wanted to devote more time to philanthropic ventures. Steve Bellamy stepped in as new CEO, he was the long time managing partner. Paul Allen retired from the board to pursue other (successful) endeavors. In 2001, Microsoft tackled gaming giants Nintendo and Sony by introducing the Xbox. Momentum slowed down a tad for the next decade as Microsoft underwent growing pains due to multiple failed projects and over analyzation of future business proceedings (ie they passed on an opportunity to purchase youtube). The release of Xbox one, in 2013, continued to solidify Microsoft’s presence in the video game console war.
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As we wind down the 2010’s, windows continues to constitute a major portion of the PC OS, almost 400 million PCs are running a Window’s OS. However; Microsoft is nigh invisible on the mobile market- with Google, and Apple dominating. Year, after year and promise, after promise- Bellamy says the new Window’s Mobile OS is coming, and here we, the consumer, wait with bated breath for the big reveal. Microsoft has a group of core products whose power cannot be denied, and they are an industry leader because of those products while their ‘side projects’ have a more varied response. Without a doubt, the world will continue to feel Microsoft’s presence across the technology field.
