Presented by: Patrick McCadden Jeffrey Wieboldt Shane James Kenneth Kobel

1. The History of Microsoft and the Effect it had on Computing Presented by: Patrick McCadden Jeffrey Wieboldt Shane James Kenneth Kobel

2. The Childhood of bill gates • October 28, 1955, William Henry Gates ІІІ was born. • Born into a family with a rich history in business and politics. • Gates grew up in Seattle, Washington with his sisters. • His father, William H. Gates ІІ is a Seattle attorney. • His mother, Mary Gates who passed away was a school teacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of united Way international. • Gates attended private elementary school in Seattle.

3. During his stay in elementary school, Gates revealed his interest in software and began programming computers at the age of 13. • Gates surpassed all of his felloe students abilities in practically all subjects, especially the math’s and sciences. • His parents recognized his intelligence and decided to enroll him at Lakeside, which is a private school known for its intense academic environment. • Early in Bill Gates’ childhood, it was obvious that he inherited the aspiration, cleverness, and competitive spirit to program computers. Bill Gates

4. Early Accomplishments • In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were attending Harvard University when they made their first significant accomplishment in the world of personal computers. • Paul Allen stumbled across an issue of popular Electronics, featuring the first minicomputer to rival commercial models, the Altair created by Ed Roberts. • The Altair was an incredibly elementary, yet ground-breaking device that raised the hopes of future programmers. • Gates and Allen determined to implement the BASIC computer language on the Altair. • Gates and Allen joined Roberts and successfully implemented BASIC on the Altair.

5. From that point on, Gates and Allen were given jobs at Robert’s Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) computer company. • In July 1975, Allen and Gates formed a business partnership called Microsoft. • Later on that year, Microsoft made an agreement with MITS to allow them to distribute their software, while not selling it to them. • Years later, tension mounted between Microsoft and MITS, as Roberts wanted Gates and Allen to work for Altair. • While the industry demanded more advanced software, Gates and Allen turned to other microcomputer manufacturers. Altair Paul Allen

6. Albuquerque Group • A serious road block hindered Microsoft as their revenue slowly began to trickle down. • Gates discovered that club members were copying and freely distributing their software throughout the country. • Gates wrote two letters to the clubs proclaiming his stance on the situation. • Following a discussion at a computer seminar, Gates closed the issue and agreed to move on. • Months later, Gates and Allen hired several young programmers and began distributing to respectable companies such as General Electric and Motorola. • After this, they established their first office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Microsoft began to take off an a powerhouse. Top row: Steve Wood (left), Bob Wallace, Jim Lane. Middle row: Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin. Bottom row: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, Paul Allen.

7. The Growth Of Microsoft • IBM played a crucial role in turning Microsoft into a superpower in the computing world. • because of the changing market, IBM became increasingly interested in microcomputers. • After wanting to enter the market themselves, IBM knew that they needed help from an outside company. • Since Microsoft’s name kept turning up, and sales numbers were so high, IBM sought out Bill Gates. • After a couple of meetings, IBM revealed to Gates that they wanted to release a little more than half a year a personal computer capable of running popular programs.

8. Microsoft agreed and said that, given the specifications, they could do it. IBM called this plan “Project Chess”. • Microsoft’s first step was finding the operating system they would use for the 16 bit microprocessor. • Microsoft ended up buying the rights to an operating system called QDOS, or Quick and Dirty Operating System. • Once Microsoft pulled all of this together, they were able to convince IBM that they were the right people for the job. On November 6, 1980 Microsoft signed a contract with IBM. • Bob O’ Rear was the man in charge of developing MS-DOS. The new named for QDOS. • In February 1981 MS-DOS ran on a prototype for the first time.

9. IBM made MS-DOS the official system of the IBM PC. • IBM announced their new microcomputer on August 12, 1981. • Microsoft then entered software market. They released MS-DOS. • The success of MS-DOS had a large impact on Microsoft and in turn on the field of personal computing. • By 1984 MS-DOS clearly dominated the field. • In 1986 Microsoft announced that half of its annual revenues came from sales of their operating system. • This gave Microsoft financial stability. This stability allowed Gates to start developing other applications, such as Microsoft Word and Multiplan.

10. These programs, beginning with MS-DOS, made Microsoft into a superpower, and changed the face of business and personal computing. • As of last year Microsoft’s net revenue was $28.37 billion. • Computers worldwide now use Microsoft programs and its chairman Bill Gates is the richest man in the world.

11. The Windows Era • Bill Gates proposed a creation of an interface manager to replace MS DOS. • This interface would eliminate problems and be graphical and user friendly. • This proposal became known as Windows and would have failed if not for the dedication of Bill Gates. • The goal of the project was to make the interface independent of the hardware, workable in graphics mode, and standardize the appearance of applications. • Work began on this project in September of 1981, by 1983 it had its official name of Microsoft Windows.

12. In 1984, Bill Gates stated that Windows would be operating on 90% of MS DOS PC’s. • This announcement is one that Microsoft would live to regret. • The release date of Windows was pushed back several times due to problems. Other companies that wrote programs for Gates were not happy. • In the summer of 1984, Microsoft did a company reorganization in the hopes of completing Windows. • While Windows was being completed IBM released its Top interface. The product failed like most of its kind at the time. • Windows was no Microsoft’s top priority and a team of thirty people were working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week until its completion.

13. Finally in November 1985, Microsoft Windows was released. • Initial market reaction to the interface was mild. Computers could not adjust to it and the interface ran slow and had few programs to run on it. • Program publishers lost interest in creating programs for Windows. • Despite all the problems Microsoft faced, Windows series went on to become Microsoft’s best selling software.