Microsoft Corporation is an American technology company. Its headquarter is in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft supports manufacturing, licensing of goods, invention, and computer-related services. It was established on April 4, 1975, by two childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
Gates and Allen founded Trac-O-Data in 1972. They sold a rudimentary computer to the city to count or analyze city traffic data.
When and where did Microsoft start?
In January 1975, Allen read an article about an issue found in Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry System‘s (MITS) Altair 8800 microcomputer. Gates called MITS and proposed an idea to develop an interpreter for Altair.
After a few weeks, Gates and Allen demonstrated the interpreter to MITS, which worked flawlessly. And MITS agreed to distribute and market it as Altair Basic.
Where did the Name Microsoft come from?
On April 4, 1975, they established Microsoft with Bill Gates as CEO. Allen suggested the name “Micro-soft” to Gates, which stands for micro-computer Software.
Almost a year later, the company’s first international office opened in Japan as ASCII Microsoft. In 1979, the company relocated its headquarter to Bellevue and then to its current location Redmond in 1986.
History of Microsoft Office
November 19, 1990, the history of MS Office officially started. It was the first time when MS Office version 1.0 came out for use with Windows OS 2.0. The keyboard was the primary input device for pre-Windows MS Word.
The year 1990: Microsoft Office 1.0 for Windows
A combination of Word 1.1, PowerPoint 2.0, and Excel 2.0 was released in November 1990.
The Year 1991: MS Office 1.5
Introduced Microsoft Excel 3.0 with Word 1.1 and PowerPoint 2.0
The Year 1992: MS Office 3.0 for Windows
It contains Excel 4.0A, Word 2.0, and PowerPoint 3.0
The Year 1994: Office 4.0 for Windows
A minor upgrade for Excel between Office 3.0 and 4.0, which was version 4.0
It was now actually Excel 4.0 instead of Excel 4.0A. The major update was MS Word focused on formatting with a rich interface. Thus, Office 4.0 includes Excel 4.0, Word 6.0, and PowerPoint 3.0.
The Year 1995: Office 7.5 or Office 95
To match version numbers of the software and office suite, they have changed the name, and it was Word 95, PowerPoint 95, and Excel 95.
Note: This version was only compatible with Windows 95 or above. Office 95 was not accessible by the versions that came before Windows 95.
The End of 1996: Office 97
It was the introduction of office assistants and also added some features in User Interface. Like: Floating menu bar, the toolbar on every side of the screen, etc.
Mid 1999: MS Office 2000
Elements were easy to use and smooth instead of previous versions and improved security.
Mid 2001: Office XP
Microsoft provided all features to the user with Windows XP.
End of 2003: Office 2003 – The Most Used Microsoft Version Ever
Microsoft Office 2003 was the most used version of the office suite. Incorporated with Windows XP and the look of icons and toolbar was the same as the operating system.
To make it more user-friendly and easy to use the features were arranged systematically under the menu tab.
The ribbon interface was introduced in this version. Formatting tools were helpful to make your document professional and presentable. Organizes commands in a set of tabs.
Office 2010-Office Web Apps
To use the same application from various platforms, like PC, mobile, or web browser from multiple locations, Microsoft introduced Office Web Apps. It was also helpful to keep employees and people in touch.
Office 2013-Clout Integration
With the evolution of Office 2013 and Office 365, cloud computing came into the picture.
Microsoft introduced Office 365 in mid-2011. It includes the web versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, OneNote, and mail programs. It also gives unlimited storage on OneDrive for paid members.
It doesn’t include many new features compared to Office 2013 but mainly focused on cloud integration and was improved with mobiles and touchscreens devices.
Several new implementations are done in its popular applications like MS Excel 2019, MS PowerPoint 2019, and MS Word 2019. The user can insert pre-defined images or icons and Scalable Vector Graphics.
You can also directly insert Adobe Illustrator’s objects into the word without converting them into pixel images.
You can translate the English language to any other available language. And can use complex formulas in MS Word.
Microsoft 365 is an updated version of Office 365 with vast cloud integration. Cloud Computing means many things are possible with the help of this. You can access your files, data from anywhere at any time with an active internet connection.
You can store your files in the OneDrive(Microsoft’s Cloud) and access them from any place. Basically, you are working on documents on the cloud instead of working and storing them in your local storage.
History of Microsoft
Also Read: Microsoft’s Relationship With Apple