Key
Events in Microsoft History
1975
January 1а The MITS Altair 8800 appears on the cover of Popular
Electronics, inspiring Paul Allen and Bill Gates to develop a BASIC
language for the Altair.
February 1а Bill Gates and Paul Allen sell BASIC, the first computer
language program for a personal computer, to Microsoft's first customer, MITS
of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
March 1а Paul Allen joins MITS as director of software.
April 7а "Altair BASIC - Up and Running," declares
the headline of the first edition of MITS Computer Notes.
July 1а BASIC officially ships as version 2.0 in both 4K and
8K editions.
1976
February 3а Bill Gates is one of the first programmers to raise
the issue of software piracy. In "An Open Letter to Hobbyists," first
published in MITS Computer Notes, Gates accuses hobbyists of stealing
software and thus preventing "...good software from being written."
He prophetically concludes with the line, "...Nothing would please me more
than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good
software."
March 27а Bill Gates gives the opening address at the First
Annual World Altair Computer Convention, held in
November 1а Paul Allen resigns from MITS to join Microsoft full
time.
November 26а The trade name "Microsoft" is registered
with the Office of the Secretary of the State of
1977
February 3а Paul Allen and Bill Gates execute an official
partnership agreement.
July 1а FORTRAN-80, Microsoft's second language product, is
available.
1978
November 1а Microsoft establishes its first international sales
office in
December 31а Microsoft's year-end sales exceed $1 million.
1979
January 1а Microsoft moves its offices to
1980
June 11а Steve Ballmer joins Microsoft.
1981
June 25а Microsoft reorganizes into a privately held
corporation with Bill Gates as President and chairman of the board and Paul
Allen as executive vice president. Microsoft becomes Microsoft, Inc., an
incorporated business in the state of
August 12а IBM introduces its Personal Computer, which uses
Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, Microsoftо MS-DOSо version 1.0, plus
Microsoft BASIC, Microsoft COBOL, Microsoft Pascal, and other Microsoft
products.
1982
March 24а Microsoft U.K. Ltd. (
June 28а Microsoft announces a new corporate logo, new
packaging, and a comprehensive set of retail dealer support materials.
1983
February 18а Paul Allen resigns as Microsoft's executive vice
president, but remains on the Board of Directors.
May 2а Microsoft introduces the Microsoft Mouse.
September 29а Microsoft introduces Word for MS-DOS 1.00.
November 10а Microsoft unveils Microsoft Windowsо, an extension
of the MS-DOS operating system that provides a graphical operating environment.
The first retail version of Windows would not ship until November 1985.
1984
January 24а Microsoft ships BASIC and Multiplan simultaneously
with the introduction of the Macintosh, becoming a leader in developing
software for Apple computers.
July 11а Microsoft Press introduces its first two titles:
Cary Lu's The Apple Macintosh Book and Peter Norton's Exploring the
IBM PCjr Home Computer.
1985
August 12а Microsoft celebrates its 10th anniversary with FY85
sales figures of $140 million.
September 3а Microsoft selects the
November 20а Microsoft ships the retail version of Microsoft Windows.
1986
February 26а Microsoft moves to a new corporate campus in
March 13а Microsoft stock goes public at $21 per share, rising
to $28 per share by the end of the first trading day and raising $61 million.
1987
April 2а Microsoft and IBM announce OS/2. This is the first
product to be announced as a result of the Joint Development Agreement between
Microsoft and IBM in August 1985.
September 8а Microsoft ships its first CD-ROM application,
Microsoft Bookshelf, a collection of 10 of the most popular and useful
reference works on a single CD-ROM disk.
1988
January 13а Microsoft and Ashton-Tate announce Microsoft SQL
ServerЩ, a relational database server software product for Local Area Networks
(LANs) based on a relational database management system licensed from Sybase.
1988
August 1а Microsoft announces Office, the first general
business software for Macintosh systems available on CD-ROM.
November 13а Microsoft and IBM broaden the scope of their
development agreement by agreeing to jointly develop a consistent, full range
of systems software offerings for the 1990s. These software offerings will
include enhancements to MS-DOS, Microsoft OS/2, and Microsoft LAN products and
are compatible with the Intel 386 and 486 microprocessors.
December 27а Microsoft announces that Jon Shirley will retire as
president and chief operating officer on June 30, 1990. Shirley, who has been
president since August of 1983, will continue to play a role in the management
of the company as a member of the Board of Directors and as a consultant for
strategic projects.
1990
April 2а Microsoft appoints Michael R. Hallman as president
and chief operating officer, to succeed upon Jon Shirley's retirement.
July 25а Kicking off its 15th-anniversary
celebration, Microsoft becomes the first personal computer software company to
exceed $1 billion in sales in a single year, with revenues of $1.18 billion.
November 12а Bill Gates unveils his vision of the future of
computing in his keynote address, "Information at Your Fingertips,"
at Fall/COMDEX '90.
1991
January 1а Microsoft Corp. becomes one of the first software
companies to create its own computer-science research organization, Microsoft
Research (later MSR).
May 20а Microsoft announces Microsoft Visual BASIC for
Windows at Windows World '91 in
November 14а Microsoft announces the Multimedia Edition of Works
for Windows 2.0, Microsoft's first business application to incorporate
multimedia.
1992
March 1а Microsoft kicks off its first television advertising
campaign. The TV ads are designed to build on the success of Windows and
Windows-based applications.
March 1а A three-person Office of the President is created,
with three centers of strategic focus: Worldwide Product Group, headed by Mike
Maples; Worldwide Sales and Support Group, headed by Steve Ballmer; and
Worldwide Operations Group, headed by Frank Gaudette.
April 6а Microsoft ships Microsoft Windows 3.1 with more than
1,000 enhancements. The new version creates unprecedented user demand, with
more than 1 million advance orders placed worldwide.
April 27а The Microsoft Board of Directors approves a 3-for-2
stock split.
June 23а Bill Gates accepts the National Medal of Technology
for Technological Achievement from President Bush.
1993
January 1а Microsoft announces the 10th anniversary of
Microsoft Word, which first shipped for MS-DOS in 1983, on the Macintosh
platform in 1984, and on the Windows platform in 1989. Based on data released
by Dataquest, Inc. there are more than 10 million Word users worldwide.
March 22а Microsoft Encarta, the first multimedia encyclopedia
designed for a computer, is available.
April 14а Microsoft reports that the number of licensed users
of Microsoft Windows now totals more than 25 million, making it the most
popular graphical operating system in the world.
May 24а Microsoft launches Windows NT at Windows World in
December 6а Microsoft is named the "1993 Most Innovative
Company Operating in the
1994
April 18а Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11 has become the
world's best-selling retail operating system, edging Windows 3.1 into the No. 2
spot.
June 28а Microsoft acquires SoftImage, the leading developer
of high-performance 2-D and 3-D computer animation and visualization software.
September 8а Microsoft announces that Windows 95 is the official
name for the next version of Windows, codenamed "
November 8а Bob Herbold joins Microsoft as the new executive
vice president and the chief operating officer.
November 14а Microsoft debuts its new international advertising
campaign, "Where Do You Want To Go Today," at actor Robert DeNiro's
trendy SoHo restaurant in
1995
March 22а Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG announce that they have
signed a joint-venture agreement to form a new software company designed to
produce interactive and multimedia entertainment properties.
August 24а Microsoft Windows 95 is available worldwide.
November 20а MSNЩ, The Microsoft Network online service, enrolls
more than 525,000 members in its first three months of service, making MSN one
of the largest Internet service providers.
November 20а Bill Gates authors his first book; The Road Ahead looks at how new
technologies will guide the way we work, play, and live in the future.
1996
January 16а Microsoft acquires Vermeer Technologies and its
flagship software application, FrontPage.
February 6а Microsoft names Mattel
June 5а MSNBC, the 24-hour news, talk, and information
network from NBC News and Microsoft, debuts.
June 24а SlateЩ, an interactive magazine of politics,
culture, and public policy edited by Michael Kinsley, goes live on the
Internet.
November 7а Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 95 releases,
marking the first time in its 14-year history that the product is available on
the Windows platform.
November 12а Microsoft's Board of Directors approves a 2-for-1
stock split.
December 3а The Executive Committee replaces the Office of the
President as the most senior management team at the company.
1997
April 6а Microsoft acquires WebTV Networks for approximately
$425 million in stock and cash.
June 23а Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda
French Gates, announce the formation of the Gates
October 21а The Justice Department files a motion in
November 25а Pollsters Hart and Teeter find that Microsoft is the
most admired company in one of the most admired industries in
1998
January 26а Microsoft Corporation's Board of Directors approves
a 2-for-1 split of its common shares.а
This is the seventh time the common stock has split since the company
went public on March 13, 1986.
June 25а Windows 98 is available in more than 40 countries
worldwide and from more than 12,000 retail outlets in
July 21а Bill Gates appoints Steve Ballmer president of
Microsoft.
October 16а The antitrust trial against Microsoft begins in
November 16а Microsoft SQL Server version 7.0 is launched at
COMDEX and receives PC Week's "Best of Show" and "Best
Productivity Software" awards.
1999
January 8а Microsoft launches Encarta Africana, the first
comprehensive encyclopedia of black history and culture.
February 24а Microsoft opens its first online store, Shop.
March 18а Bill Gates introduces Internet Explorer 5.0 at a
launch event on the Microsoft campus in
March 24а Bill Gates releases his latest book, Business @ the Speed of Thought,
published by Warner Books. At the heart of the new book is a single idea: For
businesses to think and move quickly enough to succeed in the fast-paced
digital economy, they must enable the flow of digital information.
June 7а Steve Ballmer officially launches Microsoft Office
2000, a key element of the company's vision of "Knowledge Workers Without
Limits."
September 13а Microsoft announces Windows Distributed interNet
Architecture (Windows DNA) 2000, a comprehensive, integrated platform for building
and operating state-of-the-art distributed Web applications as well as the next
wave of Internet-based Web services.
2000
January 7а Microsoft acquires Visio Corporation, the largest
acquisition in Microsoft's history.
January 13а Bill Gates creates a new role for himself --
chairman and chief software architect -- so that he can dedicate all of his
time to helping drive the next generation Windows Internet platform and
services. Steve Ballmer becomes president and CEO, and will take over
management of the company.
April 3а Microsoft announces the retail availability of
Microsoft Project 2000 and the companion, Web-based Microsoft Project Central,
a major upgrade to the world's best-selling project-management software, with
more than 5 million users.
June 22а Microsoft unveils the Microsoftо .NET platform, the
vision and road map for its next generation of software and services. Microsoft
.NET (pronounced "dot-net") will provide easier, more personalized,
and more productive Internet experiences by harnessing constellations of smart
devices and Web sites with advanced software through Internet protocols and
formats.
September 14а Microsoft announces the availability of Microsoftо
Windowsо Millennium Edition (Windows Me).
September 20а Warner Books publishes Inside Out, MicrosofЧIn
Our Own Words, a commemorative 25th anniversary book.
2001
February 13а Microsoft Windows XP operating system makes its
public debut at the Experience Music Project in
May 31а аMicrosoft
Office XP launches, promising to unlock hidden knowledge and unleash the next
wave of productivity gains.
October 25а Microsoft Windows XP is released worldwide.
November
15а Microsoft Xboxо launches, offering
the only system on the market designed from the ground up to deliver a complete
online gaming experience.
2002
January 15а Bill Gates issues a companywide memo emphasizing
that Microsoft's must lead the industry to a new level of Trustworthiness in
computing.
February
13а Microsoft Visual Studioо .NET
launches during the VSLive! Conference in
March 18а Microsoft and those states not agreeing to the
settlement reached by the U.S. Department of Justice, began a trial on remedies
in the U.S. District Court in
April 4а Microsoft President Rick Belluzzo, appointed to his
post slightly more than a year ago, is stepping down.
July 1а Today at Microsoftо TechХEd 2002 Europe, Microsoft
Corp. launched Microsoft Visual J#Щ .NET, a development tool for Java-language
developers building applications and services on the Microsoft .NET Framework.
The launch of Visual J#Щ .NET signals the completion and availability of all
the Microsoft programming languages within Visual Studioо .NET, including
Visual C++о .NET, Visual C#Щ .NET and Visual Basicо .NET.
August 8а Microsoft Reaches Agreement With the Federal Trade
Commission On Passport.
October 23а Microsoft Corp. today will unveil MSNо 8 with a
celebration in Central Park, the first stop on a national tour intended to show
consumers why a recent study* revealed that three out of four people prefer the
new MSN 8 software to AOL 8.
November 1а Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (U.S. District Court -
2003
April 16а Windows Server SystemЩ replaces .NET Enterprise
Servers as the first official portfolio name that encompasses more than a dozen
Microsoft server software products, including Windows ServerЩ 2003. The new
Windows Server System brand change informs customers that Windows Server 2003
is at the heart of the company's server strategy and that Microsoft's server
products are being designed around a common architecture, to ensure their
interoperability.
April 24а Windows Server 2003 launches. It is the largest
software development project in Microsoft history to date.
September
18а Microsoft announces that its board
of directors has decided to increase its size from eight to 10 members and is
proposing two new members for election by shareholders at their annual meeting
in November.