Tech Information.

1977
Digital Research markets CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) operating system, seeks to set standard.

Tandy Corporation announces TRS-80 Model 1 microcomputer.

Commodore Business Machines introduces Personal Electronic Transactor (PET) computer.

Apple Computer introduces Apple II.

Branching Beyond BASIC, Microsoft develops FORTRAN, COBOL, and Assembler, extending the capabilities of the PC into scientific and business realms.

July 1, The company ships its second language, (Microsoft's version of) FORTRAN, and begins offering BASIC on a single-copy basis.

Other First-generation machines that ran Microsoft BASIC included computers from Atari, Cromemco, and Texas Instruments, built around a mind-numbing range of processors that included the Z-80, 8080, 6800, 6809, 6502, and 68000. Because most machines had unique designs with proprietary (and usually primitive) operating systems, the Microsoft development team had to create a specialized version of each language for each computer.

With the introduction of inexpensive microprocessors such as the Intel 8080 and the MOS 6502, a few people began to dream of actually having their own computers.

With BASIC in demand, Microsoft branches out

February 3, A partnership agreement between Paul Allen and Bill Gates is officially executed. Their main product is still BASIC, but it's tied up with MITS, which has agreed to make a "best effort" to license it to other companies. In Bill and Paul's view, however, MITS is making less effort than it should.

The picture shows:
Starting from the top, left: Steve Wood, Bob Wallace & Jim Lane
Next row: Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenburg, Marc McDonald & Gordon Letwin
Next row: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood & Paul Allen

November 18, Arbitration decides the matter in Microsoft's favor, setting the company free to market BASIC to others. Within months, Microsoft licenses BASIC for the Commodore PET and TRS-80 computers, and begins negotiating with other companies. BASIC product. BASIC has been the subject of an extended legal dispute between the two companies.



Presidents

Bill Gates and Paul Allen shared the title of general partner until 1977, when Bill Gates became president and Paul Allen vice president of Microsoft Corp.

Stats

The BASIC Foundation for a company
Revenues: $381,715
Employees: 9
Microsoft's flat fee of $21,000 for what becomes Applesoft BASIC seems like a good idea at the time, until Apple sells more than a million machines with BASIC built in. Put your calculators away; it works out to 2 cents per copy.



1978
5.25-inch disk drives arrive for Tandy and Apple computer systems. 16-bit microprocessors are here. Intel introduces the 8086 chip. Al Gore coins the phrase "information highway." First COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wrote Integer BASIC, the first language available for the machine. But it was quickly supplanted in popularity by Microsoft Applesoft BASIC.

The Personal Electronic Transactor -better known as the Commodore PET- had an integrated, self-contained design and was aggressively priced at less than $800. Microsoft developed its first 6502-based BASIC for the Commodore and sold the source code to Apple. The machine used a cassette recorder for loading and storing data.


Introduced in 1977 and licensed to Apple, Applesoft BASIC offered a richer set of programming commands as well as floating-point arithmetic, allowing for the development of the first generation of business-oriented applications. Applesoft BASIC was first made available on tape and disk, then provided in ROM on the popular Apple II Plus. In addition, the company offered the Applesoft Compiler for customers who wanted the faster performance possible with compiled code.

April 11, Microsoft announces its third language product, Microsoft COBOL-80.


November 1, Microsoft establishes its first international sales office in Japan. Microsoft appoints ASCII Microsoft, located in Tokyo, as its exclusive sales agent for the Far East. Organizing the new operation is Kazuhiko Nishi, founder and publisher of Japan's popular ASCII magazine

December 31, Microsoft's year end sales exceed $1 million dollars

Seattle natives Gates and Allen announce plans to return home and set up offices in Bellevue, Washington, becoming the first microcomputer software company in the Northwest. A meeting between Japanese computer magazine publisher Kay Nishi and Bill Gates prompts the establishment of ASCII Microsoft, a Japanese company that markets Microsoft products to original equipment manufacturers, dealers, and end users. Interestingly enough, although the products are in English, they sell well. Microsoft is still exclusively in the business of developing languages, and Microsoft BASIC is the language of choice for the entire burgeoning industry.

Beyond the BASICs: Microsoft introduces COBOL-80.


Stats

Revenues: $1,355,655
Employees: 13
Anticipating the success of the 16-bit processor, Microsoft begins development of simulators in order to speed and simplify code development.

International

The first international office is established when Microsoft forms a strategic partnership with Kazuhiko Nishi, founder of ASCII Corporation in Japan.


1979
January 1, Microsoft moves its offices to Bellevue, Washington from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
After moving to Bellevue, Microsoft continues to grow in employees, sales, and vision. Microsoft has a BASIC compiler for virtually every microcomputer on the market. However, the company recognizes that languages are only a part of the picture, which is why Microsoft makes its first foray into the mass-market possibilities of personal computers by forming the Consumer Products Division, created to develop and market retail products and to provide support for individual users.



Although titles such as Olympic Decathlon and Adventure are among the company's consumer hits, this effort is eventually folded back into the company, and the consumer market doesn't really take off for more than a decade.

April 4, Microsoft 8080 BASIC is the first microprocessor product to win the ICP Million Dollar Award. Traditionally dominated by software for mainframe computers, this recognition is indicative of the growth and acceptance of the PC industry.

June 18, Microsoft announces Microsoft BASIC for the 8086 16-bit microprocessor. This first release of a resident high-level language for use on 16-bit machines marks the beginning of widespread use of these processors.

November 29, Microsoft expands its service to the European market with the addition of a new representative, Vector Microsoft, of Belgium. Microsoft has already established contracts with ICL, Phillips, R2E, and several other OEMs.

First entry into the European market. Vector International, based in Haasrode, Belgium, signs on to represent Microsoft.

VisiCalc spreadsheet program wows industry at West Coast Computer Faire.

WordStar by MicroPro International seeks to become top word-processing program.

Get "On-Line" with the Source of CompuServe.

Stats

Revenues: $2,390,145
Employees: 28
By working closely with NEC and its PC-8001 computer, Microsoft extends its worldwide effort of working closely with computer manufacturers in the development of hardware.

International

First entry into the European market. Vector International, based in Haasrode, Belgium, signs on to represent Microsoft.



1980
Apple Computer goes public. 4.6 million shares, largest offering since Ford Motor in 1956. Novell, Inc. announces that it will develop network software. One million computers installed in the U.S.

April 2, Microsoft SoftCard -one of the company's first hardware products- made it possible to run programs designed for the CP/M operating system on the Apple II.
Microsoft announces the Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard, a microprocessor on a printed circuit board that plugs into the Apple II computer and allows owners to run thousands of programs available for the 8080/Z-80 class of computers with only minor modifications. Microsoft will provide BASIC, FORTRAN, and COBOL languages for the Z-80 SoftCard. (A version for the ill-fated Apple III was also available.) SoftCard was an enormous success in early-day computer terms, and Microsoft sold more than 100,000 units between 1977 and 1982.

Microsoft announces Microsoft XENIX OS, a portable operating system for 16-bit microprocessors. It is an interactive, multi-user, multi-tasking system that will run on Intel 8086, Zilog Z8000, Motorola M68000, and DEC PDP-11 series. All of Microsoft's existing system software (COBOL, PASCAL, BASIC and DBMS) will be adapted to run under the XENIX system, and all existing software written for UNIX OS will be compatible as well.

June 11, Microsoft hires Steve Ballmer. He will be responsible for establishing policies and procedures in the financial, organizational, and resource allocation areas.

Although the company grows by only two employees sales more than triple. Microsoft introduces the Pascal language, develops XENIX (enhanced version of the UNIX operating system), and begins to explore spreadsheet applications. It also releases its first hardware product, the Microsoft SoftCard, which allows Apple II users to run CP/M-80 (operating system from Digital Research -nope, no MS-DOS yet!) applications. The biggest of the big news, however, is still a big secret: a contract with IBM to develop languages for their first personal computer. Wow. But it gets better. They need an operating system too!


Stats

The Dawning of a Decade
Revenues: $7,520,720
Employees: 40
Steve Ballmer arrives from Procter & Gamble to serve as the first assistant to the president. Ballmer's arrival eases Bill Gates's administrative burden and allows the company to hire "lots of good people."


1981
With MS-DOS running on over 150 million PCs, it's easy to forget that it wasn't always the international phenomenon it is today.
The arrival of the 16-bit IBM personal computer in 1981 set in motion a new era of computing, as the personal computer industry quickly left behind its early 8-bit days.

Within a few years, the industry would coalesce around two primary operating systems: Microsoft MS-DOS and the Apple Macintosh.

A transition of significant proportions -from mainframe to personal computing- was also underway, supported by the evolving de facto standards that were beginning to emerge in the PC marketplace.

The original IBM Personal Computer was actually introduced with several options in operating systems, including the CP/M-86 from Digital Research and the UCSD P-System. But the IBM PC represented a new platform for computing, which -like all shifts in this industry- offered a shift in the paradigm of computing and allowed for the creation of new products with new capabilities. Building on the core of a product acquired from Seattle Computer Products, Microsoft took advantage of the technology breakthroughs represented by the IBM PC and, in the evolving versions of MS-DOS, provided a foundation for an entire generation of computing.

After months of maniacal hours by developers, the IBM personal computer debuts with Microsoft's Disk Operating System (MS-DOS). Other companies set out to clone this new hardware standard, negotiating with Microsoft for the rights to distribute MS-DOS (which IBM, under pressure from Bill Gates and company, has authorized). Because the clones are not strictly compatible, Microsoft creates a different MS-DOS for each machine. Newly incorporated Microsoft also rides the wave of the IBM PC with versions of BASIC, COBOL, and Pascal.


August 12, IBM introduces its Personal Computer, which uses Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0, plus Microsoft BASIC, COBOL, PASCAL, and other Microsoft products.
After months of maniacal hours by developers, the IBM personal computer debuts with Microsoft's Disk Operating System (MS-DOS). Other companies set out to clone this new hardware standard, negotiating with Microsoft for the rights to distribute MS-DOS (which IBM, under pressure from Bill Gates and company, has authorized). Because the clones are not strictly compatible, Microsoft creates a different MS-DOS for each machine. Newly incorporated Microsoft also rides the wave of the IBM PC with versions of BASIC, COBOL, and Pascal.

Steve Jobs of Apple visits Microsoft to give a sneak preview of the revolutionary Macintosh computer. Microsoft becomes the first major company to develop products for the Mac.

On June 25, 1981 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 Washington.


Stats

Revenues: $16,000,000
Employees: 128




1982
The Microsoft Local Area Network (MILAN) is now fully functional, linking all of Microsoft's in-house development computers including a DEC 2060, two PDP-11/70s, a VAX 11/250 and many MC68000 machines running XENIX. This system will simplify e-mail delivery on-site.

In its first 16 months on the market, MS-DOS is licensed to 50 hardware manufacturers, but there is never any guarantee that it will become an industry standard. While promoting MS-DOS and working on enhancements to it, Microsoft also expands its international focus, opening Microsoft Ltd. In England, thus building the first truly global personal computer software company. Plus, Microsoft moves into the realm of business applications with the introduction of Multiplan, an electronic spreadsheet program.

June 28, Microsoft announces a new corporate logo, new packaging, and a comprehensive set of retail dealer support materials. The new logo for Microsoft Corporation, dubbed the "Blibbet," will be officially launched at Fall/COMDEX '82. The logo design is the name, Microsoft, with a distinctive letter "o" filled with horizontal lines.

A prototype Macintosh arrives at Microsoft to aid in development of applications for it.

On June 25, 1982, James Towne, 39, was appointed president and chief operating officer of Microsoft (July 6 1982 -- June 20 1983). In July, Towne took over all operating responsibilities from Bill Gates. Previously, Towne had been vice president and general manager of the instrument division at Tektronix Inc.


Stats

A Market Explodes
Revenues: $24,486,000
Employees: 220



1983
An essential decision in the early development of MS-DOS was to make it an open system, designed to run on multiple computers.

To stretch memory beyond the original 640K limits of the Intel 8086 chip set, Lotus, Intel, and Microsoft introduced the LIM/EMS standard for expanding memory.

Although competition grew fierce in the languages market -especially with the arrival of fire-sale-priced Borland Turbo Pascal at $49- Microsoft continued overall to be the industry leader in languages. Microsoft BASIC was enhanced and became GW-BASIC (for "gee-whiz"), used for everything from specialized programs to "quick-and-dirty" coding. The company also helped move the high-end market (where customers included several of our direct competitors) from Pascal to C with the release of the Microsoft C programming language.

The proliferation of systems running MS-DOS helped simplify software development and provided consumers with a single platform available across a wide range of feature sets and price points, helping to spark the growth of the entire industry.

If you wanted to test a new machine for IBM compatibility, one of the standard programs you'd run would be Microsoft Flight Simulator, a true-to-life simulation of what it's like to pilot a plane, developed in cooperation with Bruce Artwick of SubLogic. Flight Simulator logged in more than one million copies in a decade, making it a genuine highflyer.

Not even Microsoft bet the entire company on MS-DOS alone. The company also developed the XENIX operating system, a UNIX derivative designed to bring its multiuser capabilities to personal computers, announced in 1980. While the multiuser PC market was smaller, XENIX was still a relative success, outpacing all other versions of UNIX by a wide margin. Later Microsoft transferred its rights to XENIX to The Santa Cruz Operation.

The Microsoft Multiplan spreadsheet, the company's first application product, was ported across many different types of computers -a major issue in the early days of MS-DOS, when "IBM compatible" could mean anything from "will run the program" to "can read IBM disks but probably not do much more". While Lotus 1-2-3 surpassed Multiplan in domestic markets, Multiplan was the winner in almost every other country in which it appeared, helping to lay the groundwork for Microsoft's strong international presence.


Introduced in 1983 and costing $800, the Tandy/Radio Shack PC Model 100 redefined the concept of portability in personal computing. It included built-in text editing, spreadsheet, and communications programs. Microsoft worked closely with Tandy in the definition and development of the machine.

Hard disks started to become standard equipment on computers with the introduction of a 10-MB hard disk as an available option with the IBM PC XT.

September 29, While most customers still think of Microsoft as a technically oriented systems/language company, two products form this year set the groundwork that will eventually change the public's perspective of the company: Microsoft Word for MS-DOS 1.00
PC World subscribers receive a free demonstration floppy disk of Microsoft Word in the magazine's special Software Review. "This is the first time in the history of publishing that a magazine has featured a floppy-disk bind-in," said David Bunnell, Publisher of PC World.

November 10, Microsoft unveils Microsoft Windows, an extension of the MS-DOS operating system that provides a graphical operating environment. Windows features a window management capability that allows a user to view unrelated application programs simultaneously. It also provides the capability to transfer data from one application program to another.

Word is significant for its WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) design, though WYSIWYG at the time means little more than on-screen italics, bold, and underline. Even so, Word produces output far superior to any other product of its kind to date. Windows is significant in providing a graphical interface for users of MS-DOS.


May 2, Microsoft introduces the Microsoft Mouse, a low-cost, hand-held pointing device for use with the IBM PC, as well as, any MS-DOS-based personal computer. The Mouse is used to quickly move or reposition a cursor on the screen. Two buttons are provided to select decision alternatives or commands from the screen.



December1, Microsoft announces that MSX-DOS, an 8-bit disk operating system for MSX microcomputers, will be available to 14 Japanese and one U.S. micro manufacturers next January. MSX-DOS is CP/M-80 2.2 compatible and runs all Microsoft's 8-bit software including the languages BASIC, COBOL-80, and FORTRAN-80, and Multiplan.


Presidents

February 18, 1983 Paul Allen resigns as Microsoft's Executive Vice President, but remains on the Board of Directors.

June 20, 1983. James Towne resignes as COO

August 1, 1983 Microsoft announces that Jon Shirley, 45, has joined Microsoft as President and Chief Operating Officer and will be on the board from August 1, to June 30,. He is replacing James Towne. Shirley was previously with the Tandy Corporation
In August 1983, Jon Shirley, 45, joined Microsoft as president, chief operating officer and director. Prior to Microsoft, Shirley was vice president of computer merchandising at Tandy Corp. and had held a variety of positions in sales, merchandising, manufacturing and international operations. At Microsoft, Shirley provided the young company with the professional business acumen needed to steer it through the birth of the Windows operating system, the move to the Redmond campus and the initial public offering.

Augus, in addition to his role as chairman of the board, Bill Gates assumed the title of executive vice president, responsible for all development activities.


Stats

Revenues: $50,065,000
Employees: 476
After recovering from a serious illness, Paul Allen leaves Microsoft to explore a variety of other pursuits - from technically oriented companies to the Portland Trailblazers basketball team.

International

Subsidiaries open in the three major European markets: France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. They are charged with selling into and developing the European market as a whole.

APAC region established with purchase of Wiser Laboratories Pty, Ltd. of Australia, giving us direct distribution in the region. First Microsoft e-mail message sent internationally. International head count at year's end: 42.