Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer: Microsoft moguls just doing their thing

• IT standards

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are tycoons and former CEOs of the PC software giant, where Microsoft was unrivaled. Former poker friends, each with their own life goals and leadership qualities, are not going to completely say goodbye to Microsoft. In the life of each of them there were events of high-profile successes and disastrous failures, and the only thing that unites the two friends is Harvard, Windows and Office products, which brought corporations multibillion-dollar profits.

Bill Gates is currently the chairman of the board of directors and does not share the views of other shareholders who want to see a person more involved in the company's activities in his place. Ballmer, after his farewell departure from the post of CEO, is just about to join the ranks of the board of directors of Microsoft Corporation. Today, Gates owns 4.5% of Microsoft shares, Ballmer's share is 4%.

William Henry Gates: introverted genius and founder of the software giant

Stephen Anthony Ballmer is the worst, eccentric and explosive CEO of a public corporation

Conclusion

Tags: microsoft, steve ballmer, bill gates, global trends

Microsoft (Microsoft Corporation, read "Microsoft")- the largest (profit for 2008 - 17.7 billion dollars with a turnover of 60.4 billion dollars) transnational company producing software for various types of computing equipment - personal computers, game consoles, PDAs, mobile phones and others. Also produces some accessories for personal computers (keyboards, mice, etc.). The company is headquartered in Redmond (a suburb of Seattle), Washington.

Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, students at the time. The name of the company is an abbreviation from English. MICROcomputer SOFTware (software for microcomputers).

Microsoft founders

William Henry Gates III (William Henry Gates III) born October 28, 1955 in Seattle where his father William Henry Gates II (William Henry Gates II) worked as a lawyer. Mother, Mary Gates, was a school teacher and also served on various boards of directors, including the University of Washington, United Way International, USWest, and First Interstate Bancorp. In addition to Bill, who received the nickname Trey in the family (the word "trey" means three in card games and in this case is associated with a “numbered” prefix to the name), the Gates raised two daughters: Kristi (Kristi) - for a year older brother, and Libby, who was nine years younger than him.

After high school, he attended Harvard University, but dropped out to pursue what became his life's work: software development.

On January 1, 1994, Gates married Melinda French. Bill Gates first met Melinda in 1987 at a Microsoft press briefing in New York. She, as it turned out, had been working for his company for a long time. Melinda left the service, marrying the boss, and soon their daughter, Jennifer, was born. In the shadow of her husband, Melinda plunged headlong into charitable work. Above all, she values ​​​​her privacy and, as a rule, does not give interviews to journalists. They have three children and live in a very large house on a hillside overlooking Lake Washington. This is a very modern house of the XXI century in the style of "Pacific House", full of complex electronic systems.

(Paul Allen) was born on January 21, 1953 in Seattle (USA), in the family of a librarian. He studied at a private school Lakeside in Seattle (Lakeside School) with Bill Gates, with whom they had been friends since childhood. Together they were fond of computer programming, skipped the last class of school together. Of course, the decision to drop out of university after sophomore year is always credited to Bill Gates. Be that as it may, together with Allen they got a job in the same company. Paul spoke with the founder of Microsoft, from whose leadership he left in 1983. The official version claims that due to illness, evil tongues talk about disagreements with Bill. Which of them was the main generator of ideas in the company is a mystery, but be that as it may, Allen was destined to forever remain "No. 2" in the history of Microsoft.

How it all began

When Bill graduated primary school, the parents decided that ordinary education would not suit their son, and sent him to study on the other side of the city - at the Lakeside School, a private school. Gates was happy to participate in school theater productions, but he was most interested in classes in one of the educational buildings, where a computer terminal was installed. At the age of 13, Bill, who had demonstrated excellent academic ability, took up programming.

Bill is 13 years old, next to Paul Allen, with whom he later founded Microsoft (1968)

At school, together with his friend Paul Allen, Bill studied the BASIC programming language from a textbook. And it should be noted that Paul's passion for computers reached fanaticism. In an interview given in 1995 to the American edition of Fortune, Bill Gates told the story of the embarrassment that happened to his friend at the graduation ceremony school year. The administration simply refused to give Allen a certificate until the future billionaire's mother, who was present at the ceremony, paid the debt of $ 200 for the computer time used by her offspring. Allen, in addition to such hobbies as cinema, books, guitar, chess, scuba diving, had another passion - cards. During his school years, Paul Allen was famous for playing poker. As the legend goes, it was while playing poker that he met his future friend, partner and colleague, Bill Gates.

In the eighth grade, Bill Gates wrote his first programs: one that converted numbers from one mathematical base to another, the other was a game of tic-tac-toe. Later, Bill created a computer analogue of the desktop strategic game Risk, the goal of which is world domination. Gates and Allen soon got unlimited time to use the computer at a local company. As a payment, schoolchildren had to identify and correct problems in the operation of the machine. As Gates's father recalled, in order to work with the computer, Bill even secretly left the house at night. There is a legend according to which the fifteen-year-old Gates managed to crack the two most advanced operating systems at that time - DEC and CDC.

In the ninth grade, Gates set himself the goal of getting only excellent grades and safely entered the top ten students in the country on the results of math tests. In the tenth grade, he already taught computer skills and wrote a program that was responsible for scheduling school classes, from which he earned $ 4,200.

With Allen and another close friend, Kent Evans, Gates formed the Lakeside Programmers Group, which was commissioned to develop a payroll program for a Seattle firm. Then the first conflict occurred between Allen and Gates: Allen decided to do all the work on his own, but soon realized that he could not do without Gates. Bill agreed to return, but made a condition: "Okay, but I'll be in charge and I'll get used to being in charge, and now it will be difficult to deal with me if I'm not in charge."

By the end of school, Gates had become a self-employed entrepreneur. Together with friends, he organized a company that analyzed traffic in the city and made special schedules. This enterprise, which was called Traf-O-Data, brought its creators 20 thousand dollars. At the age of seventeen, Gates was commissioned to write a software package for the distribution of power at the Bonneville Dam. For a year of work on this project, he received $30,000, and in addition, the project was credited by the school as the majority of required coursework.

The biggest shock in the later school years for Bill was the death of Evans, who crashed while climbing. After that, Gates became even closer to Allen. Together they studied the programming language of artificial intelligence.

Altair 8800 and Micro-soft base

In 1971, Paul, who entered the Washington State University, read an article about the world's first microprocessor Intel 4004. The computer "brain" was compressed to the size of a chip, and this turned into reality their dream with Bill of a time when everyone would have their own personal copy of a computer on the table. Allen, inspired by what he had read, enthusiastically proved to his friend that microprocessors would now be constantly improved and form the basis of future computing systems. And a year later, friends pooled together, for $ 360, they bought a miracle of the then technology - the Intel 8008 microprocessor. It was supposed to serve as the heart of a computer for traffic control: According to Paul Allen himself, their first joint venture with Bill, Traf-O- Data, organized in 1972, although it brought some profit, was generally not very successful. Crushed by price competition, the partners were forced to "cover up" their business. However, what could break others, for Allen and Gates was just a good lesson for the future.

In 1973, Gates entered his first year at Harvard University. At Harvard, he lived on the same floor as Steve Ballmer, who is now Microsoft's vice president of sales and support.

Popular Electronics Magazine January 1975

In the winter of 1974, Paul Allen came across an article published in Popular Electronics magazine about the world's first microcomputer, the Altair 8800, based on Intel's latest 8080 microprocessor. The microcomputer was sold by mail order as a DIY kit by a tiny company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This company was called MITS and was headed by a certain Ed Roberts. Confident in the coming success of desktop computers, he realized that this was exactly what was needed. As a programmer, Paul realized that without a convenient programming language, Altair was practically useless for computer enthusiasts. Gates was of the same opinion. It was a small matter - to “teach” the first personal computer the language and not miss this chance until others took up the job. The uniqueness of the situation also consisted in the fact that Allen and Gates had in their hands an almost finished project of the BASIC language interpreter, created while working on their own Traf-O-Data project. Adapting it to the Altair was a matter of technique. It remained to convince the leadership of MITS of the correctness of their ideas.

MITS. Photograph of the shops where the Altair computers were produced in 8800 (during lunch, when there are no workers)

Cunning Paul and Bill immediately contacted MITS and said that on this moment have an excellent version of the BASIC language, which, frankly, they did not have at all. However, in addition to the trick, Bill and Paul had three weeks at their disposal, after which face-to-face contact with MITS representatives was to take place. There remained a mere trifle - to compose the interpreter itself. And three weeks later the plane was already carrying friends, so to speak, towards success. Negotiations with Altair 8800 manufacturer Ed Roberts were carried out with youthful perseverance and assertiveness. As a result, Paul Allen was hired by MITS, and the buddies got a contract to develop the Altair programming language and an office to work with. Who would have known that this was the beginning of a legend. Soon punched cards with Basic hit the market for $150 a copy. From that moment, Micro-soft originates, just like that, through a hyphen, an abbreviation from English. MICROcomputer SOFTware (software for microcomputers).

Among the most enthusiastic fans of Altair, of course, are the members of the Homemade Computer Club organized at that time. Geographically, it was located in California, in the town of Palo Alto, and was an independent association of computer enthusiasts.

"Letter to Lovers"

At their meetings, which were held in a relaxed atmosphere, club members exchanged information, technical advice, computer parts and programs. No information relating to computer hardware or software, no matter how hard it took to get it, was hidden.

Naturally, amateurs - the true bearers of the spirit of hackers - were eager to get their hands on a BASIC interpreter for the Altair machine. But the MITS company sold a ribbon with the program for $500, which created an insurmountable barrier between BASIC and the main part of computer enthusiasts. In June 1975, a group of engineers from MITS demonstrated the Altair at a seminar in Palo Alto. To the delight of the many Homemade Computer hackers who were present, the model shown allowed BASIC to work.

Unable to resist the temptation, one of the members of the club grabbed a spare punched tape, which happened to be not far from the working Altair teletype. At the next meeting at the club, he asked one of the participants to make several copies of this tape. Soon every member of the club who wished to have a ribbon was able to get it. And then, through the national hacker network, the BASIC for the Altair machine quickly spread to other hacker clubs.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates, who sold their software to MITS on a royalty-free basis, were more than dejected by this development. Their annoyance grew even more when it became apparent that the number of buyers would have been much larger if this "self-published" version of the program had not appeared.

After the initial outrage subsided somewhat, Bill Gates sent an "open letter to hobbyists" that was published in several computer publications. The letter noted that Bill Gates and Paul Allen received a lot of praise for their program, but it also revealed that most of those who do not skimp on praise, in fact, did not buy the program. “How could this happen? - Bill Gates asked the question, and then he himself answered it, expressing a sharp accusation against amateurs. “All these many amateurs should be aware that they actually stole the program,” he wrote. Who can afford to do professional work for free? What hobbyist can spend three man-years programming, finding all the bugs, documenting the product, and then giving it away for free?

For Bill Gates, the answer to this question was obvious, but not everyone shared his point of view. For example, the editor of a small amateur publication stated that "the best thing to do was to tear up the letter and forget about it." And the members of one computer club even discussed the question of whether Bill Gates should not be taken to court for an unfounded accusation of theft. Of the several hundred letters Gates received in response to his protest, most contained a negative response and only five or six contained a check requested by Bill Gates in payment for a BASIC interpreter smuggled out.

The dispute between Bill Gates and hackers has become known in computer circles as the software scandal. Some hackers held their own for many years after the scandal subsided. They wrote and distributed so-called public domain programs that anyone could use for free. These programs can still be found in hundreds of computer bulletins distributed throughout the United States.

Collaboration with IBM

Let's get back to Microsoft. At first, the company did not do well. Gates, Allen and their associates worked around the clock, but did not have the strength and means to create any ingenious product. Opportunities (and maybe talent) at that time were enough for all sorts of details: for example, improvements were made to BASIC. The company could not afford to hire a sales manager; Bill's mother did it, offering Microsoft programs without the slightest embarrassment to huge corporations like IBM and AT&T.

1977. July. Microsoft begins selling its second programming language, FORTRAN.

1978. April 11. Start of sales of the third programming language COBOL-80 for microprocessor systems 8080, Z-80 and 8085.

1979. April 4. BASIC 8080 is the first software product to receive the million dollar ICP award. This award, given to Paul, is Microsoft's first award.

1979. June 18. Microsoft introduces BASIC for computer systems on the 8086 microprocessor. This is the first high-level resident language that appeared for 16-bit machines. From this moment, the widespread use of this processor begins.

All this is great, but the real ascent to Everest began when the decision to seriously engage in the production of personal computers matured in the depths of International Business Machines. In 1980, IBM invited Microsoft to start developing the core operating system for all of its personal computers. By that time, Microsoft already had 39 people working - the company developed and supplied programming languages ​​to IBM, but Bill did not have a suitable OS. He had to recommend that IBM turn to Microsoft's rival, Digital Research, which already had the fairly popular CP/M system installed on many 8-bit computers. Having deliberately contributed to the competitor's success, Gates immediately corrected himself: IBM management was sent a whole dissertation on the need to switch to a more powerful 16-bit 8080 processor from Intel. Apparently, the text turned out to be convincing, as a result of which CP / M was rejected, and Digital Research signed an agreement to develop a new operating system (however, some reliable sources claim that IBM already had the 8085A processor, which was quite 16-bit, except for the 8-bit data bus; where the truth is, we do not undertake to judge).

Microsoft had time to get ahead of DR, and the firm didn't miss a beat. Moreover, fate was more than indulgent: Paul Allen made contact with a small company, Seattle Compute Products, which had the necessary operating system, but simply did not have time to optimize it by the time the IBM PC appeared, the “release” of which was supposed to take place in a month. In addition to buying the Seattle Computer development, 86-DOS, Microsoft hired Tim Patterson, its creator. Gates and the company actively brought to mind the OS purchased from Seattle Computer, working 25 hours a day.

The second time was lucky when they managed to persuade IBM to sign a contract with Microsoft to supply a new operating system. Conditions of a contract (managers now study as an example of a classic mistake) were completed. According to him, IBM assumed the cost of producing the system and promised to sell computers only with PC-DOS. (first version of MS-DOS), while deducting Microsoft a percentage of each machine sold.

1979. June 25. Microsoft becomes a privately held corporation with Bill Gates, chairman of the board, and Paul Allen, executive vice president, taking over. August 2. IBM presents its PC, which uses the 16-bit Microsoft operating system - MS-DOS 1.0, as well as BASIC, COBOL, Pascal and other Microsoft Inc. software products.

1982. April 1st. Opened the first sales and marketing office in Europe, as well as the first foreign office of the company - in the UK.

1982. April 27. Microsoft announces BW-BASIC, a graphics support product that gives you more ways to work with Microsoft BASIC.

1982. November. The number of installations of MS-DOS is growing rapidly - in the first 16 months, 50 computer manufacturers bought a license from Microsoft for this 16-bit operating system.

Microsoft's dependence on IBM alone ran counter to Gates' free-spirited spirit. The next lengthy letter sent to the patrons was devoted to the expediency of selling MS-DOS under license to other computer manufacturers. “The spread of MS-DOS will help fight the influence of the main competitor, “Apple Computer” – IBM has given up to this argument. But that was not all.

From the beginning of the eighties, the production of computers in the West began to grow, one might say exponentially. IBM still retained its leadership, however, could no longer be considered a monopolist: Compaq was formed and began to develop actively, the PC market attracted the attention of Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments. But it seems unlikely that these and other firms would be able to successfully compete with IBM if they happened to develop their own operating systems against the backdrop of the growing popularity of MS-DOS. Seizing the moment, Bill encouraged some of the leading PC manufacturers (like Compaq) to create products designed to be fully compatible with IBM machines so that any program written for IBM could be used on those computers. Gates' gift of persuasion led to the fact that MS-DOS began to be bought wholesale and retail, almost standing in line for it - MS-DOS was installed on 80% of all PCs, thanks to which the concept of "IBM compatibility" arose. The successful promotion of MS-DOS was Microsoft's first step towards a monopoly.

Realizing the results of the contract with Microsoft, IBM management tried to renegotiate the terms of the agreement. But since there were only moral grounds for this, the attempts did not lead to anything.

OS /2

Windows 1.0 users are finally able to work with several programs at the same time and freely switch between them. True, overlapping of windows is not allowed, which sharply reduces the convenience of the environment. In addition, quite a few programs are written for Windows 1.0, as a result, it has not received distribution on the market.

1986. March 13. Microsoft shares go public and start at $21 per share, but rise to $28 by the end of the day. The initial share offer rose to $61 million.

1986. April 18. The Software Vendors Association awards annual "Best Software" awards for "Best Business Software" and "Best Performing Product" Microsoft Excel for PC Macintosh, "Best Technical Achievement", "Best User Interface" and "Best Product of the Year". - Microsoft Windows.

1987. April. Microsoft and IBM announce an agreement to develop the OS /2 operating system.

1987. September 8. The first Microsoft application on CD, Bookshelf, is released.

1987. November 1. Windows 2.0 has been released. Unlike previous versions with a tiled window placement system, the system of overlapping windows is implemented here. It also takes advantage of the protected mode of the 80826 and better processors, allowing programs to overcome the 640 KB DOS main memory limit.

1988. May 31. The operating system OS /2, version 1.1 appears with Presentation Manager.

1988. October 9th. Windows 386 is released, a Windows 2.0 edition optimized for the latest processor from Intel; it lays the foundation for most of the future features of Windows 3.0.

1988. November. International sales account for 48% of all Microsoft software sales. Excel for Windows 2.0, the first graphical spreadsheet for the IBM-compatible PC, was conceived as a program with which Microsoft hoped to supplant the spreadsheet market leader, LOTUS. True, Excel was quite demanding on resources, and its use required its own device drivers, which somewhat reduced the competitiveness of the product.

The OS /2 operating system began as a joint development between IBM and Microsoft (although most of the work was to be done by Microsoft). It was originally conceived as a replacement for DOS. Even then it was clear that DOS, with its memory and file system limitations, would not be able to take advantage of the computing power of emerging computers. OS /2 was a well thought out system. It had to support preemptive multitasking, virtual memory, a graphical user interface, a virtual machine for running DOS applications.

The first versions of OS /2 did not have a significant impact on the market. OS /2 1.0, released in 1987, had most of the technical features needed for a multitasking OS. However, it lacked a presentation manager (PM) and drivers for many popular printers and other devices. OS/2 1.1, which appeared in 1989, included a rudimentary version of PM that finally made multi-window graphical applications possible. Released in 1990, version 1.2 had an improved PM, although it did not follow conventional GUI concepts. There are drivers for most printers and other peripherals.

But the discrediting of OS /2 has already happened. Version 1.2 wasn't much better than the previous ones and still had significant hardware requirements. In addition, many popular DOS applications became unavailable to OS /2 users, and those that were available could not interact with the OS /2 environment, remaining with the tried and true, if not very perfect, DOS. Many users choose to upgrade to the new Windows 3.0 platform or wait until something fundamentally better comes along.

The difficulties of OS /2 force Microsoft to continue working on Windows, while IBM continues to develop OS /2. After some time, representatives of IBM express dissatisfaction with the fact that Microsoft shifts the focus to the development of Windows. After the advent of Windows 3.0, when 3 million copies of the system were sold in a year (whereas only 300,000 OS / 2 packages were sold since the completion of development in 1987), the paths of the two corporations finally diverge. Gates himself, dismissing all the accusations as unfounded, modestly says that the whole point is that "Microsoft has changed the world a lot."

In June 1988, Digital Research releases DR-DOS, which, according to the press, outperforms MS-DOS due to its more powerful utilities. However, further development of the OS was hampered by the need to make changes to ensure compatibility with Windows, and DR-DOS never gained a significant market share, dying safely in 94.

1990. March 13. The corporation announces the accrual of 100% dividends on shares. Shareholders learn that they receive one additional share for every share purchased prior to March 26, 1990.

1990. April 2. A Russian version of MS-DOS appears - the first software product localized for the Soviet market. The number of foreign language versions of MS-DOS has reached 13.

1990. 25 July. In celebration of the company's 15th anniversary, $1.18 billion in annual revenue was announced. Microsoft becomes the first software company to exceed $1 billion in annual sales. The number of Microsoft employees at that time was 5975 people.

1990. September 17th. Windows Marketing Program announced, the largest single product marketing program in Microsoft's 15-year history.

Windows 3.0

When Windows 3.0 came out, many agreed that this system, which had a graphical interface and could multitask, really looked more friendly and user-friendly. Programmer-focused improvements have led to an explosion of activity in the Windows software market. The stability of the OS leaves much to be desired, but Windows 3.0 is becoming the dominant product in the market thanks to pre-installation on new computers and extensive support from independent hardware and software vendors. Microsoft's relentless drive to make Windows a workable OS is finally bearing fruit. After the introduction of Windows 3.0, which made the computer quite accessible to the layman, Apple sued Microsoft, accusing it of copyright infringement.

Over Windows, not looking up from the displays, almost the entire team of the company worked for about 10 years. And those who could not stand the frantic rhythm quit. In 1986, Gates broke up even with Paul Allen, who developed blood cancer from prolonged computer exposure and overwork. Fortunately, Paul managed to overcome a fatal illness, but the doctors categorically prescribed him a sparing regimen. Knowing that the best friend will never be able to work in full force, Gates decided to call him to a conversation, as a result of which Allen was forced to leave the company, losing his shares to Bill, however, at a very favorable price.

Windows 95

After numerous delays and an unprecedented advertising hype for a software product, Windows 95 came out. Succumbing to the general hype, even people who do not have a computer are standing in line for it. "Windows 95 is the most user-friendly version of Windows that doesn't require DOS to install!" Windows 95 has greatly improved the user interface, has a built-in TCP/IP protocol suite, a Dial-Up Networking utility, and allows for long file names.

1996. January. 25 million copies of Windows 95 have been sold. Every month, 2 million users switch to this operating system.

1996. March 12. America Online and Microsoft enter into a strategic partnership agreement - AOL will integrate Microsoft Internet Explorer as the default Web browsing program for its 5 million users.

Windows NT 4.0

1996. July 31. Microsoft releases Windows NT 4.0, which is a significant improvement over version 3.51, with a Windows 95 user interface, enhanced features for working with hardware devices, and numerous built-in server processes, such as the Internet Information Server Web server. Initially, this Unix-replacing operating system had a small share of the US corporate market, but over time it will increase dramatically, and Windows NT is increasingly becoming the platform for intranets and public Internet sites.

1996. October. Microsoft is releasing OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) for Windows 95, which is intended for PC manufacturers installing the OS on new machines. It fixes bugs and improves many of the built-in functions and applets of the Windows 95 Control Panel. Several Windows 98 "news" appeared in OSR2, including the FAT32 file system, which provides more efficient use of hard disk space, and an improved Dial-Up Networking utility. . OSR2 included Internet Explorer 3.3, Microsoft's first successful browser. 1997. September 23. The first beta version of Windows NT 5.0 is presented at the Programmers' Conference. Fundamental a new version will provide compatibility with the next generation of hardware, and will also have advanced management and data protection functions. Release date - January 1997

Windows 98

1998. June 25. Following Windows 95, already recognized as the de facto standard for home users, breathing evenly down her neck and stepping on her heels, this year a new version of Windows loudly announced itself, which received the corresponding symbolic serial number - 98. The motto is “Works better . Plays better”, which Microsoft supplied it, directly indicated that the company, in its opinion, this time managed to achieve significant success, and the user with the help of its new product will be able to work better and play better too. It was the first Windows designed specifically for, so to speak, buyers or consumers. And, I must say that the success of this system is obvious and incredible to this day.

So. Let's go back to 1998. Internet Explorer is fully integrated into the system. Windows Explorer (Explorer) has undergone significant changes, and the integration of IE significantly "helped" him in this. The user now has the ability to manage resources and files in the same way as managing the transition between web pages in a browser (the Forward and Back buttons appeared on the toolbar). In addition, the list of available drives and folders is also displayed on the screen like a web page: general information about the drive or folder on the left, a list of drives or folders on the right. One click on the file is enough to launch the file, just like following a link on the Internet. In the help system, the content is also formatted - like the design of a web page. There is a quick launch bar (Quick Launch), which can be integrated with the start menu. In general, all these web special effects that the new OS has been stuffed with are familiar to you, so we mark Active Desktop as a plus, which adds more web identity to the system (at the request of the user) and move on past the interface.

The file system of hard drives was replaced with FAT32 (although it was implemented in Windows 95 OSR2, but there was no means to convert FAT16 to FAT32), which allowed organizing large partitions and provided more reliable and efficient data storage. And, of course, Microsoft has done a good job of making the operating system compatible with hardware, especially with peripherals - USB and FireWire (IEEE1394).

To the defragmenter and Scandisk supplied by default and updated in this version of the OS, a disk cleaning utility was added, with which the user could delete temporary files and files located in the Recycle Bin, and some other utilities appeared, such as a tool for searching the Web for updated system versions and fresh device drivers.

In 1998, Microsoft released Office 98 for Macintosh - as an extension of the previously released Office 97 package. Ironically, Mac users "sit" on Microsoft software.

November 22, 1998 Shane Brooks (Shane Brooks) wrote an installer with which users of Windows 98 could remove the integrated Internet Explorer from the system. What, in fact, proved the fact that Windows 98 can quite easily exist without Microsoft Internet Explorer. Up to this point, users of this OS had only the ability to install an alternative browser (Netscape Navigator, for example) in addition to IE and use it, rather than Microsoft's built-in tool for surfing the Web.

In 1998, having done significant way up the career ladder, Ballmer was appointed president of Microsoft.

Operating system Microsoft Windows 98 SE - 1999.

On May 5, 1999, the release of Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) was released, in which the errors of the previous version of the operating system were fixed, and users received more advanced system compatibility with hardware and new Internet capabilities. Windows 98 SE included Internet Explorer 5; Microsoft Windows NetMeeting 3.0 - a tool for audio and video conferencing on the Web; DirectX 6.1, loaded automatically; a new feature Internet connection sharing (ICS - Internet Sharing), which allows you to use a computer running Windows 98 as a gateway to the Internet for other computers on the local network; and finally, improved media.

Windows 2000

On February 17, 2000, Windows 2000 was released, which was positioned as an upgrade that replaced Windows NT Workstation 4.0, but was already much more than just an improved reincarnation of the already well-known NT line system. In fact, Windows 2000 was created to replace Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on all business desktops and laptops.

As a desktop and server version of the OS, Windows 2000 was released in four different editions:

Professional - client version for desktop and laptop computers;

Server - for entry-level servers (entry level), a fairly reliable server platform for the most demanding applications of e-commerce and doing business in a certain area or for intranet servers;

Advanced Server - for high performance applications and servers;

Data Center Server - for complex and high-performance cluster systems.

The Windows 2000 system interface strongly resembles that of Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 with Internet Explorer 4.0. But Internet Explorer 5 is integrated into this operating system.

For IT professionals, the Windows NT Server family has brought features such as centralized, policy-based management with new management technologies - Microsoft IntelliMirror management and the Microsoft Active Directory service. As part of its work on the Windows 2000 operating system, the company launched the Change and Configuration Management (CCM) initiative to reduce the cost of installing and maintaining desktop computers. For example, the IntelliMirror package includes a subset of technologies used in Windows 2000 that can be used to implement CCM.

Companies, convinced of the reliability and prospects of this system, are beginning to slowly migrate to Windows 2000.

Operating system Microsoft Windows Me - 2000

September 14, 2000 Windows Millennium Edition (ME) is released. An optional and overdue upgrade for Windows 98. Windows Me was positioned as a system for home users who are actually ready to upgrade from 98 to something newer and more advanced.

The system was stuffed with improved multimedia (the new media player supported more file types and interchangeable skins), games, more convenient processing of digital images, digital and analog video, digital music was implemented ...

Xbox

On November 14-15, 2001, the official launch of the Xbox took place. The first set-top boxes arrived in US stores on the evening of November 14th. Bill Gates personally took part in the official launch of the console, handing over the first copies of the Xbox to customers. The price of the console was only $299. Despite the fact that many still thought the console was ugly, the joystick was too big, and the price was too high, Microsoft managed to sell one million consoles in three weeks. It was an incredible result. An interesting fact is that the launch of the Nintendo GameCube (working title Dolphin) in the United States took place just three days later on November 18th. It was a real battle between Microsoft and Nintendo, dragging on for many years. It was the GameCube that became the main rival for the Xbox for the next three years, while the Playstation 2 remained in first place. Now there is approximately an equal volume of the Playstation 2 and Xbox, while the GameCube is noticeably inferior to them, the reason is that many people use the PS2 and Xbox as a DVD player, while the Nintendo console is not capable of playing DVD discs (Nintendophobia is known to everyone: the prefix The Nintendo 64 was still on cartridges, since counterfeiting them was not cost-effective, while the GameCube used special 1.5 GB discs, in both cases nothing good came of it).

Windows XP

Operating system Microsoft Windows XP - 2001

October 25, 2001 Windows XP is released. The most enchanting output of the system that you can imagine: a holiday, fireworks, firecrackers and all sorts of fun all over the States and Europe. When the release of Windows XP was celebrated with pomp, users around the world began to slowly figure out what, in fact, the new system is.

Two main versions - Professional Edition and Home Edition, designed for users with different goals and objectives.

The Professional edition is the base for three "secondary" editions - Media Center Edition, TabletPC Edition and Windows XP Embedded. Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) is also based on the Windows XP kernel. B Windows XP Professional is the main programming code used in Windows 2000 and Windows NT Workstation. This code, called the NT kernel or the new Windows kernel, makes Windows XP more efficient, secure, and stable than Windows 9x/Me.

Windows XP Home Edition is designed for home users, provides faster and more convenient access to OS functions, and its external design greatly simplifies and at the same time makes it more efficient to perform typical tasks: working with digital images; work with music and video files - efficient search, download and storage; fast and simple organization computer sharing and a lightweight approach to creating a home network; effective means of communication for instant messaging, voice and video conferencing, and organizing joint work.

Court

In 2002, after nine American states filed a lawsuit demanding that Microsoft release a simplified version of Windows without applications such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, Gates was forced to recognize the possibility of releasing such a simplified version of the system. The corporation later faced similar demands outside of the United States. In 2004, the European Commission imposed a €497 million fine on Microsoft and required the corporation to release a version of Windows without a media player. In 2006, after an appeal filed by Microsoft, the antitrust process in Europe continued.

Windows Server 2003

April 24, 2003 Windows Server 2003 is released. Windows systems So far, I've settled on Windows Server 2003, a system based on the principles of increased reliability, scalability, and manageability. Windows Server 2003 is a high-performance infrastructure platform to support connected applications, networks, and XML Web services at scale from the workgroup to the data center.

It is a multitasking operating system capable of centrally or distributed management of various sets of roles, depending on the needs of users. Available: file server and print server; web server and web application server; mail server; terminal server; remote access server / virtual private network (VPN) server; Directory service, Domain Name System (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, and Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS); streaming media server.

Windows Server 2003 is available in four editions. The Standard Edition is the ideal choice for small businesses and individual departments within an organization. Supports file and printer sharing; provides a secure Internet connection; allows you to centralize the deployment of desktop applications.

Enterprise Edition - Designed to meet the general IT needs of businesses of all sizes. Designed for applications, web services and infrastructures and provides high reliability and performance. Supports up to eight processors; provides enterprise-level features such as eight-node clustering and support for up to 32 GB of memory; available for computers based on the Intel Itanium processor; will be available for 64-bit computing platforms capable of supporting eight processors and 64 GB of RAM.

Datacenter Edition - For mission-critical business applications and mission-critical applications that require high-level scalability and availability. The most powerful and functional server operating system ever offered by Microsoft; supports 32-thread SMP multiprocessing and up to 64 GB of RAM; provides eight-node clustering and load balancing services as standard features; will be available for 64-bit computing platforms capable of supporting 32 processors and 128 GB of RAM.

Web Edition is a new product in the Windows family of operating systems designed to be used as a web server. Designed for developing and hosting web applications, web pages and XML web services; designed to be used primarily as an IIS 6.0 web server; provides a framework for rapid development and deployment of XML Web Services that uses the ASP .NET technology, which is a core part of the .NET Framework.

xbox 360

On May 19 at E3 2005 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) a new Microsoft Xbox-360 project was officially launched - the result of a three-year collaboration between several companies, including ATI.

Xbox 360- game console seventh generation from Microsoft. Developed in collaboration with IBM, ATI and SiS. Xbox Live! allows you to play online, download a variety of content such as demos, trailers, music, TV shows, etc. It is positioned as the main competitor of Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. There are three console options Core, Premium, Elite.

In 2005, Google came to the fore among Microsoft's competitors. The area of ​​competition between the two giant firms was search engines on the Internet, and in addition, Google announced its intention to release programs that directly compete with the products of the Gates Corporation. As for Internet Explorer, it was seriously competed with a free browser. Mozilla Firefox, and in 2008 Google released its Chrome browser.

Zune

In September 2006, Microsoft officially introduced the Zune portable media player, developed in collaboration with Toshiba. According to Microsoft Vice President Jay Allard, Zune is not just a pocket player, but a complete entertainment platform for playing media files and sharing digital information. The device is equipped with a built-in wireless controller, thanks to which owners can connect with other similar players and send, for example, music or videos.

The built-in hard drive has a capacity of 30 GB. This volume, according to the developers, is enough to store about 7500 musical compositions, 25,000 photos or one hundred hours of video. The image on the three-inch display can be displayed in portrait and landscape orientations. In addition, the Zune has a built-in FM tuner.

Windows Vista

Operating system Microsoft Windows Vista - 2007

On November 30, 2006, Microsoft officially released Windows Vista and Office 2007 to corporate customers. On January 30, 2007, sales of the system for ordinary users began.

Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn) is an operating system in the Microsoft Windows NT family, a line of operating systems used on consumer personal computers. In the Windows NT product line, the new system is version number 6.0 (Windows 2000 - 5.0, Windows XP - 5.1, Windows Server 2003 - 5.2). The abbreviation "WinVI" is sometimes used to refer to "Windows Vista", which combines the name "Vista" and the version number written in Roman numerals. Windows Vista, like Windows XP, is exclusively a client system. Microsoft also released a server version of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008.

second generation Zune

In October 2007, Microsoft introduced the second generation Zune multimedia players with 4GB and 8GB flash memory, equipped with a 1.8-inch display, built-in FM tuner and Wi-Fi. In addition, a second-generation hard disk-based player was introduced. The new model has an 80 GB hard drive instead of last year's 30 GB hard drive. The player's screen has also been enlarged, and its thickness has become much smaller. All players will be released in black, green, pink and red, except for the last one, which will be available in black only. Devices of the second generation will have a new marking. For example, Zune 4 would mean a player with 4 GB of memory, Zune 8 with 8 GB, and so on.

A characteristic feature of the new devices is the so-called Zune Pad - a touch area under the screen, designed to control the device. According to Microsoft, the introduction of the Zune Pad was a carefully considered decision: the user can change tracks or adjust the volume blindly. The second generation of players will support modern H.264 and MPEG-4 video codecs, and the built-in Wi-Fi module will enable owners to synchronize images, audio and video files with a computer. Moreover, synchronization will be performed automatically as soon as the player reaches the transmitter's coverage area. Similar features are planned to be added to the new firmware for the first generation of players. It will still not be possible to download music wirelessly, as Apple proposes to do, but the ability to share files between devices will remain.

Bill leaving

In July 2008, Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft. Gates himself, who has long become a legend not only in the computer world, but also in the real world, no longer manages the company - he only creates the philosophy of the computer world.

Direct leadership is provided by Gates' longtime partner, Steve Ballmer.

September, 2008 Microsoft introduced BlueTrack technology and the first mice to use it. A feature of the new technology is the ability to accurately track mouse movements on any surface, from granite kitchen worktops to living room carpeting. This omnivorousness is provided by a new illumination source and an optical sensor, which are able to form an image of the surface with high contrast. The beam used in BlueTrack is four times larger than the beam used in today's mice.

Windows 7 (formerly known by the codenames Blackcomb and Vienna) is the name of the new operating system of the Windows family, the successor to Windows Vista, due out in late 2009.

Windows 7 should include some of the developments that were left out of Windows Vista, as well as innovations in the interface and built-in programs. Windows 7 should be a new step in the development of Microsoft operating systems.

The story continues...

Few people know about the success story of Paul Allen, but he played a very big role in making Microsoft exist to this day. He is the second founder of this company, having started working together with Bill Gates. Paul Allen was involved in technical ideas, and Bill Gates promoted them in the market, optimizing software products for big sales.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates make the first major deal with IBM.

The first major order from Paul Allan and Gates was made by IBM, which needed an operating system for microcomputers (as personal computers were called at that time). Bill knew that Tim Paterson (who worked for Seattle Compute Products) already had a prototype of such an operating system called Q-DOS (Quick Disk Operating System). Bill and Paul bought Q-DOS from Tim to resell. Paul Allen needed to redesign the system for IBM requirements. The deal was a success. They were paid $6,000 straight away, but the main idea was that for each sale of a microcomputer with MS-DOS installed, a percentage of Microsoft's profits was deducted. However, opinions about the work of these Bill and Paul began to diverge over time. The name of Microsoft Corporation originated from the phrase microcomputer and software (paid software).

An important decision made by Paul Allen to save the Microsoft Corporation.

Paul Allen expressed some dissatisfaction with the fact that Gates constantly sought to dominate the share of the business. By that time, the company was already a joint-stock company, and both co-owners had a decent stake. When things between the two partners went very tight, Paul decided to completely refuse to participate in the project. At that time, several divisions had already taken place between Paul Allen and Bill Gates, and Allen was constantly losing his positions. Paul knew that sooner or later they would come to a point where he would still have to give up everything he had now, so he proposed a deal to his partner. The deal was that Allen would sell his share of the shares at $10 a share, which was far below the market price of the shares, and therefore he formally offered a very favorable offer for the company. However, even this very lucrative offer for Microsoft brought him several billion dollars, making him the richest man in the country for a while. But a little later, since his fortune practically did not grow, he began to lose ground. And, although now he has a decent amount of money, he still does not fall into the number of the richest people (in 2011, 57th place in the magazine).

The role at Microsoft that made Paul Allen successful.

However, Paul cannot be called a poor man either, since his capital is still quite large. Continuing to talk about him as one of the richest people in the world, it cannot be said that he earned his money exactly the way Gates did. In fact, he simply received his share of participation in the enterprise for his intellectual investment. And although some of his ideas turned out to be really valuable for the corporation, he still did not play the key role that Bill Gates himself played in it. In conclusion, we should talk about Paul Allen as a wealthy person who can manage his money under any conditions (after all, even during the crisis, his capital did not decrease, and Microsoft still holds on to strong positions).

23.01.2017 13:00

It is believed that in the world big business there are no friends, but there are partners and competitors. Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, Paul Allen categorically disagree with this! About what happens if you mix friendship and business - in the Finparty material.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett

The two richest men in America have been friends for 25 years. The history of their relationship confirms the simple truth: “Children! Listen to your mom! Mom knows best! The fact is that Gates was not at all eager to get acquainted with the famous investor. “He sells and buys scraps of paper of varying value and does not produce anything. It is unlikely that we have much in common, ”the Microsoft co-founder doubted. But his mother invited family friends to visit, and they took Buffett with them. He, too, was not too happy about the visit to the house of Gates' parents, even asking his friends: “How long will we have to stay so as not to seem impolite?”

At the meeting, Buffett immediately began asking Gates about Microsoft. “These were amazingly thought-out questions that no one had asked before,” the latter was surprised later. Communication lasted for several hours and became, as they say, “the beginning beautiful friendship". Together, Bill and Warren are engaged in charity work, launched the "Giving Pledge" campaign. It was joined by more than 150 millionaires and billionaires, each of whom promised to spend at least half of his fortune on good deeds. Gates and Buffett also jointly lobby for laws in the US Congress (for example, they promote reform of immigration policy).

The Microsoft co-founder says he only has two numbers set up for speed dialing in his office: his home number and Buffett's. “I am constantly learning new things from him. We like to talk about companies, politics, world events, - explains Gates. - Faced with a problem, I often ask myself the question: “What would Warren do?” We are almost the same age, but he is so much wiser that sometimes I perceive him as a father.”

With his busy schedule, the famous investor finds time to call a friend for no particular reason. He regularly sends him links to interesting articles. And when he comes to visit, he gets behind the wheel of the car to meet him at the airport. “It's a small gesture, but it means so much to me! I always look forward to when the doors of the plane open, because I know that Warren will delight me with a new story or joke, ”Gates once remarked.

Bill Hewlett and David Packard

Hewlett and Packard met at Stanford as engineering students. After graduation, they went on a two-week hike in the mountains. Everything is as the classic bequeathed: "Pull the guy into the mountains - take a chance." The guys took a chance and returned from that trip as friends for life. And in 1939 they founded Hewlett-Packard. The town of Palo Alto, the workshop in the garage, the atmosphere of a friendly company - this recipe for success will be repeated many times in the future. Bill and David paved the way for many startup founders in Silicon Valley. Touching detail: according to legend, the partners could not decide what to call their company - Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. They tossed a coin, Packard won and... put Hewlett's last name first.

We know a lot of examples when co-founders of promising businesses survived each other by all possible ways. But not in this case! During World War II, Hewlett left to serve in the army for six years. The partner waited rather than many wives, and after the service, his partner returned to the post of vice president. Later, Packard left the company to take up the post of US Deputy Secretary of Defense. Retiring after three years, he was again happily elected chairman of HP.

The friends understood each other well and shared similar management styles. The company they created is known not only for innovation, but also for its reverent attitude towards employees. Hewlett and Packard gave workers unprecedented benefits for their time: health insurance for serious illnesses and flexible working hours. They are considered some of the most respected entrepreneurs in American business history, and the Palo Alto garage is often referred to as the birthplace of Silicon Valley.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen

The future founders of Microsoft went to private school together in Seattle. Although Paul was three years older, the boys were drawn together by their love of everything related to computers. At the age of 13, Bill already dreamed of how they would build a company that would become one of the largest in America. Friends did not get lost even after school. Both dropped out of college to form Microsoft in 1975.

And then the conflicts began. Gates was fully focused on growing the business, and his partner found time for other interests as well. So, Allen wanted to go to Florida to watch the launch of the first space shuttle. Gates was angered by this, because during working hours you need to do work, and not stare at the sky.

In 2011, Allen published a memoir, The Idea Man. In it, he told how he accidentally overheard a conversation between Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Those spoke just about him: that he does not perform his duties well, so his share in the company and participation in management should be reduced. A few months after that episode, Allen voluntarily left Microsoft, keeping shares in it. The book of memoirs offended Gates, and, according to rumors, he did not communicate with its author for more than a year. But over time, the relationship of childhood friends still warmed up. For example, Gates was no longer stingy with words of support when Allen was battling cancer or when his mother died.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

In 1995, Larry Page came to Stanford to evaluate opportunities for a PhD in computer science there. As a guide around the campus, he got Sergey Brin, a graduate student in the same faculty. The guys at first terribly did not like each other and spent the whole day in disputes and bickering. Despite such an unpromising start, they were already friends a year later and founded Google two years later.

They very successfully share their duties in the company, at least the news about disagreements and disputes does not get into the press. The exception was the story of how Brin cheated on his wife with one of the employees of Google. According to a Vanity Fair insider, when the ugly episode surfaced, Page, known for his strict ethical principles, stopped talking to a friend. Passions subsided, the romance turned out to be short-lived, and the creators of Google are now again associates and business partners.

Georgina Chapman and Karen Craig

The girls met and became friends while studying at the College of Art and Design in Chelsea. In an interview, Georgina Chapman recalled how she switched from contemporary art to fashion and design: “I just got tired of watching someone splash red paint on the canvas and say that this is an image of a woman during childbirth.” Against the background of such flights of artistic thought, clothing modeling seemed more meaningful and an interesting activity. Chapman decided to devote herself to him and thought: “What could be better than doing what you love with your best friend?”

Marchesa was born in 2004. It took only a few years for Georgina and Keren to wear their outfits to Hollywood celebrities on the red carpet. Their example clearly shows that a business with friends can be successful if the responsibilities are initially distributed correctly. So that everyone feels at their place and truly enjoys the work. Chapman comes up with the outfits themselves, while Craig does the textiles and trimmings. Georgina's brother is responsible for the financial side of the business. Business has only strengthened true female friendship (yes, it exists!). “Now we are more like sisters than friends!” designers brag.

In the future, there will be two types of companies on the market:
those who are online and those who are out of business.
Bill Gates.

What do you think, dear readers, is a promising company capable of turning its employees into rich people already at the first entry into the stock market (issuing its own shares for free circulation on the stock exchange)? Those who answered in the affirmative are right. History knows many such examples. True, they usually talk about immediate supervisors who overnight became multimillionaires or billionaires.

Even more surprising is the case that occurred in March 1986, when the initial public offering of shares of one American company in an instant added four dollar billionaires to our planet and, here attention, 12 thousand millionaires! No one has demonstrated such charity towards ordinary workers. Neither before nor after.

This company-philanthropist - known to everyone Microsoft. As you may have guessed history of Microsoft and is offered to you below.

Birth and first recognition of Microsoft (1972–1983)

From childhood Paul Allen and were reputed to be bosom friends. These two personalities had a lot in common, but there was something that turned this tandem into a strong union - they both got carried away. Already in 1972, this hobby led to concrete results - the guys created their own company Traf-O-Data, specializing in the production of primitive computers for tracking and analyzing traffic. It was assumed that such computer equipment would be of interest to the US highway services. Traf-O-Data has not been very successful. The main thing in this story was the experience, which was very useful to the creators of Microsoft a few years later. And it was like this...

The year 1975 had just begun. In the January issue of the popular magazine Popular Electronics, Paul, who by that time had already dropped out of his studies at the University of Washington to work at Honeywell Corporation, read an interesting article about a new computer. Altair 8800 companies MITS(Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems). I read and shared my thoughts on this with Bill. Like, it would be interesting to create a BASIC language interpreter for a new computing device. Bill took his friend's suggestion literally and immediately called MITS, saying that he and his partner had created a working version of the interpreter. In response, the company said that it would be wonderful to confirm this in practice.

A problem loomed. After all, Gates and Allen had neither an interpreter, nor even an Altair 8800. This did not stop talented programmers. While Paul was building a virtual computer simulator, Bill was working on an interpreter.

From just 8 weeks later, in March 1975, at a presentation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the MITS headquarters, the genius friends program proved to be an interesting thing with potential in opportunities. MITS was pleased by this circumstance and announced that it was entering into an official contract with the performers for the development of Altair BASIC.

In the wake of this success, friends left Boston (Paul settled at Honeywell, and Bill dropped out of Harvard) and moved to Albuquerque. In this city April 4, 1975 our heroes founded the now world-famous Microsoft Corporation.

And the day with the name of the company was thrown by Paul. He suggested calling the joint venture a shorthand for "microprocessor/microcomputer" and "software". Initially, the company name was written with a hyphen: micro-soft. It wasn't until November 1979 that Bill Gates first used the word without a dividing line.

The further chronology of key events in the history of Microsoft Corporation within the described period of time is as follows:

• 1976- Microsoft's income exceeded 16 thousand dollars.


• 1978- The first foreign representative office of the company (ASCII Microsoft) opens in Japan.


• 1979 Microsoft is changing its location. Due to difficulties in attracting top programmers in Albuquerque, Bill and Paul move to the state of Washington - the city Bellevue. By that time, Microsoft had 13 employees.



1980- the release of the first hardware under the Microsoft logo. It's about Z-80 SoftCard- the device with which the CP/M operating system was launched on the computer. The product release, which took place in March, was an incredible success. In the first three months alone, 5,000 pieces were sold ($349 each). As a result, at that time the contribution of "softcards" to the profitable piggy bank of Microsoft became the main one.

Joins the Microsoft team in June Steve Ballmer. In the future, he will become the CEO of the company (in 2000, Bill Gates will leave this post).

In August of this year, the first Microsoft operating system is released - Xenix. As it turns out, Xenix has become another variation of the popular Unix operating system. Not to say that Xenix caused a stir in the market, but it drew attention to itself. If only because a text editor appeared for the first time in this OS Multi Tool Word- the ancestor of today's popular Microsoft Word.

What Xenix failed, another Microsoft operating system did. After the failure of negotiations with Digital Research, the company IBM turned to Gates with a proposal to develop an analogue of CP / M, but for use in her new IBM PC computer. Microsoft coped with the task flawlessly, revealing to the world OS MS-DOS, which became the fundamental basis for the IBM PC and other IBM-shaped computers of that time.



• 1981- The start of IBM PC sales in August marked the beginning of Microsoft's hegemony in the US, and a little later in the international market of operating system developers. The growth of the company forces the management to reorganize its legal form. Now it is no longer just Microsoft, but Microsoft Corporation Inc. Bill Gates took over as president of the corporation and Paul Allen as executive vice president.


• 1983- Microsoft expands its sphere of influence outside the US. Including through a line of new products ( Microsoft Mouse) and with the help of a new division - the publishing house Microsoft Press.

Z completes the premiere stage in the history of Microsoft the same year, when it became known that Paul Allen was leaving the company. This turn of events was the result of accumulated disagreements with Bill Gates. Plus, Paul was diagnosed with a serious disease - Hodgkin's lymphoma. Which, fortunately, he overcame.

Rise of the legendary "windows" and "office" (1984–1994)

During this period of Microsoft's history, programs appeared that are hard to imagine modern computers without. During these years, the guys from Microsoft created their first versions.

In 1984, Bill Gates' company continues to cooperate with IBM. This time, Microsoft is the contractor that is developing the OS/2 operating system for the new PS/2 computer. In parallel, Microsoft is improving MS-DOS graphically. The practical result of this refinement is the launch in November 1985 of the first version of the already legendary Microsoft Windows. Initially unsightly MS-DOS acquired a pleasant visual appearance.

1986- another, now final, change of registration of the headquarters of Microsoft. In February, Gates and company change Bellevue to Redmond(the state remained the same - Washington).

One month later, the initial placement took place valuable papers Microsoft on the stock exchange. It is noteworthy that the starting price of a share of $21 per share soared to $28 by the end of the first trading day. In the future, the growth in the value of Microsoft Corporation assets only continued.



• 1987- Developed by Microsoft, the premiere version of OS / 2 for IBM computers goes to the people. In addition, in the bowels of the "software" giant, work is underway to create a universal package of "office" programs.


• 1989- in August the world learned what it is Microsoft office and its main components: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and other programs from the office suite.



1990- launched to the masses Windows 3.0- updated Microsoft operating system for the latest processors at the time Intel 386. In the first two weeks of sales alone, over 100,000 copies of this OS were sold. Since then, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office have taken the lead in the operating system and office software market.

This success prompted Microsoft management to rethink its relationship with . As a result, the company has focused resources on the development of its own projects. In May 1991, Bill Gates made it clear to his subordinates that the collaboration with IBM on OS/2 had come to an end. From now on, efforts are thrown at the further development of the Windows operating system line. The decision turned out to be correct: the Windows family expected a bright future, and OS / 2 ingloriously sunk into oblivion.



• 1992- came out in May Windows 3.1. It is literally swept off the shelves of stores. Not least thanks to an aggressive TV advertising campaign (know-how for the time). Over 3 million copies were sold in the first two months. The history of operating system development has never known such commercial success.


• 1993- official recognition of Windows as the most used operating system on planet Earth. Fortune magazine calls Microsoft "the most innovative company in the United States."


• 1994- a time of fabulous marketing spending at that time. By some estimates, Microsoft's products that year cost the corporation a whopping $100 million.

This decade in the history of Microsoft Corporation was not only the achievements with a "plus" sign. The “cons” include the beginning and continuation of numerous litigations, in which the Gates company was the defendant. In a nutshell, the claims against Microsoft boiled down to the fact that the corporation was conducting unfair competition. Well, the rivals could not calmly observe how good things are with Bill!

Internet, multiple windows, and monopoly fees (1995–2005)

No less eventful were the next ten years of Microsoft's existence. Moreover, their scattering is so large that it is hardly possible to mention all of them. Within the framework of a dissertation, perhaps, but not within the framework of one article. Therefore, I will talk about the key milestones of this period.

Firstly, the huge potential of the World Wide Web, previously unaccounted for in Microsoft products, was finally “officially” noticed in 1995. In May, Bill Gates told the company's business leaders that "from now on and forever and ever" is becoming a priority in the work of Microsoft. According to Bill, this decision was influenced by the success of Netscape, which would be unforgivable to ignore.

In practice, the Internet orientation of Microsoft Corporation has led to the emergence of new company products, one way or another focused on the Web. For example, already in August of this year, Windows 95 Plus! Pack for the first time contained its own web browser - .

Secondly, each subsequent year of this decade introduced users to a new “family member” of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. In 1995, the world saw a phenomenal Windows 95(over 1 million copies sold in 4 days since release).

Then followed Windows NT 4.0 (1996), Microsoft Office 97 (1997), Windows 98 (1998), Windows 2000 And Windows me (2000), Windows XP And Office XP(2001). Experience showed that each program included the achievements of its predecessor and a bunch of new features for the user.

Thirdly, this stage continued the unpleasant tradition of Microsoft to act as a defendant in litigation. The most resonant can be considered a lawsuit against the corporation that appeared in 2004, as a result of which Microsoft was recognized as an "excessive monopoly" and ordered to pay the European Union 613 million dollars.

Similar claims against Microsoft appeared in the United States (2000) and South Korea(2005). The result was a mandate that prohibited Microsoft from selling complex software products in certain cases. Let's say the Asians made Microsoft ship Windows in two flavors - with and without Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger.

In the same period, there were changes in the top management of the company. January 13, 2000 Bill Gates steps down as president of Microsoft in favor of Steve Ballmer. The co-founder of the IT monster appointed himself to another position - the “Chief Software Architect” of the company.

Endless Windows and Microsoft's Increasing Appetite (2006-present)

The main events of this period in the history of Microsoft come down to two points.

The first is further churning out new versions of Windows: Windows Vista (2007), Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 (2009), Windows 8 (2012).

P about the "office" package is also not forgotten. Proof of that - Microsoft Office 2007. The end of this holiday "window" OS in the near future is not expected, because in October 2014 a public demonstration of the demo version took place Windows 10.

In the second, these are attempts by Microsoft Corporation to increase influence in the field of modern information technology. Not least thanks to high-profile takeovers of start-ups or established companies. Here are two of the most notorious ones:

2011- acquisition. The deal amounted to $8.5 billion;




year 2013- purchase of division of Nokia which is engaged in production of mobile devices. The Finns lost their phones for $7.2 billion.

2014 was the last year for Steve Ballmer at the helm of Microsoft. He was succeeded by Indian-American Satya Nadella. It seems that he, along with Gates (who is always somewhere nearby), will be engaged in shaping the new face of Microsoft in the next decade.

Microsoft: forty years behind - what's the output?

As you can see, the forty-year history of Microsoft Corporation is rich in events. Events that made the company what we know it today. The current face of the corporation is not only mega-popular software products from the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office family.

Microsoft today is software for a bunch of computing. In addition, it is a manufacturer of all kinds of accessories for PCs - keyboards and mice - and the famous game console Xbox- main competitor Sony PlayStation. In addition, Microsoft, through its divisions, competes with recognized market leaders. tablet computers (Microsoft Surface) and smartphones ( Microsoft Lumia).

And Internet search is another area of ​​interest for Microsoft. Here, the forty-year-old brainchild of Bill Gates and Paul Allen is operating through. In less than 6 years of existence, the latter has become the second most popular in the United States after. And third in the world after Google and Baidu. Moreover, the lag behind Baidu is conditional - less than one percent.

The diverse interests of Microsoft correspond to its status - a large transnational corporation. Forbes magazine in 2014 named Microsoft international leader among the structures that create software. Microsoft's annual income is estimated at $87 billion. The closest pursuers are the American Oracle and the German SAP - 38 and 23 billion, respectively.

According to another ranking, last year Microsoft Corporation rounded out the top three global leaders in terms of market capitalization of assets (how much a company is worth). In 2014, this amount is estimated at $383 billion. Only Apple Inc. is ahead. (647 billion) and Exxon Mobil (391 billion).

I propose to finish the story about Microsoft with what I started with - the company's employees. Over the years that have passed since the initial public offering of the corporation's shares on the stock exchange, the staff has grown. Today it is 128 thousand people, including a thousand workers in Russia. I wonder how many of them are now millionaires?