Moments that shaped the future
It all started in 1975 when Bill Gates and Paul Allen opened a small office in Albuquerque. Since then, Microsoft has released groundbreaking products, including Windows, Office, and Xbox, that democratized computing and changed the world. Delve into the milestones and big moments that led Microsoft to becoming one of the largest and most influential tech companies in the world.
1975
Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the time, Gates was 19 and Allen was 22. Gates and Allen develop their version of the BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Code) programming language for the Altair 8800, the first home computer and the machine that sparked the microcomputer revolution. Their goal was to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, which would allow users to write their own software for the computer. This first product sold for $350 and was distributed on a cassette tape. Gates uses the name "Micro-soft" in a letter to Allen to refer to their partnership.
1976
Microsoft becomes the official name of the partnership and is registered with the Office of the Secretary of State of New Mexico. Bill Gates and Paul Allen lease their first office in the Two Park Central Building at 300 San Mateo Blvd. NE Suite 819 in Albuquerque.
1977
Bill Gates and Paul Allen make their partnership official and Gates takes an extended leave from Harvard to work with Allen and half a dozen other programmers at Microsoft's headquarters near the Altair manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. By the end of the year, Microsoft is selling more than $1 million of software annually.
1978
Microsoft enters the international space and opens its first international office, called "ASCII Microsoft" on Nov. 1 in Japan. It's now known as Microsoft Japan. The same year, Microsoft opens an office in London.
1979
With fewer than 15 employees, Microsoft recognizes the need to recruit top programmers and leases offices on the eighth floor of the Old Bank Building in downtown Bellevue, Washingon, which sets the stage for innovation and growth.
1980
Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer and Bob O’Rear negotiate a legendary contract with IBM to develop the operating system MS-DOS for their upcoming personal computer line. MS-DOS becomes the basis for Microsoft’s rapid expansion. That non-exclusive agreement led Bob to write MS-DOS with Tim Patterson, which became the IBM operating system and the bargaining chip with which Microsoft gains market share with other original equipment manufacturers.
1981
Microsoft officially incorporates and begins leasing the Northup Building in Bellevue, Washington. That same year, it enters the operating systems business. The release of MS-DOS, an acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, is introduced in IBM's personal computer, which also includes BASIC, COBOL, Pascal, and other Microsoft products. By the end of the year, Microsoft's sales break $17 million and the company employs 129 people.
1982
Microsoft formally launches its international division. Microsoft U.K. Ltd. becomes the company's first official international subsidiary. The 1982 year-end sales surpass $24 million and the headcount reaches 220 people.
1983
Word for MS-DOS 1.0 is released in the spring of 1983 and Microsoft announces Multi-Tool Word, which later becomes Microsoft Word.
1984
Although Microsoft had been selling hardware since 1980 and developing devices in-house since 1982, it created a new Hardware and Peripherals Division in 1985 under the direction of William Roland.
1985
Microsoft introduces the U.S. to the Windows line with the launch the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0. It's released as a graphical extension for MS-DOS with user-friendly icons. Windows 1.0 included Microsoft DOS Executive, Calculator, Calendar, Cardfile, Clipboard, Clock, Control Panel, Notepad, Print Spooler, Reversi, Terminal, Windows Paint, and Windows Write. By the time Microsoft ended its support for Windows 1.0 on December 31, 2001, it was the longest-supported operating system out of all versions of Windows.
1986
Microsoft moves from The Northup Building in Bellevue to Redmond, Washington, and opens the campus with four buildings and Lake Bill. In March, Microsoft makes an IPO. The stock goes public at $21 a share and reaches to $28 by end of the day, bringing in $61 million. On a product standpoint, Microsoft releases the Exchange Server. This is designed as a messaging and collaboration server that provides email, calendar, and contact management.
1987
As Microsoft begins to distribute and promote its new products in innovative new ways, it unveils a new corporate logo and packaging with a more dynamic look known as the "Pacman Logo." The company also creates a new U.S. Sales and Marketing Division with Scott Oki as senior vice president in charge of it.
1988
Microsoft opens its Product Support Services Division in Bellevue. The 49,000-square-foot facility is completely dedicated to and houses 250 staff members of the Product Support Services Division of Microsoft.
1989
Microsoft packages its core productivity applications—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—into a single offering and introduces first version of the Office suite. The suite initially launches for the Macintosh with the Windows version to come in 1990. By integrating these applications into one package under the Office brand, Microsoft establishes its dominance in office productivity software, as users appreciate the consistency and compatibility among tools.
1990
Windows 3.0 launches and gains widespread adoption, making the Windows platform a household name.
1991
Microsoft connects to the nationwide TCP/IP-based Internet. The Internet is a wide-area network that connects computers at a large number of universities, research institutions, and commercial concerns around the world.
1992
Windows for Workgroups launches as an extension of Windows 3.1. It includes built-in networking capabilities giving users the ability to connect to local area networks (LANs) and share resources such as printers and files. This is an important step for Microsoft in expanding the functionality of the Windows operating system for business and collaborative environments.
1993
Windows NT, short for "New Technology," launches on July 27. This is Microsoft’s first operating system to support 32-bit processing and is aimed at business users. It enhances security, stability, and performance compared to the DOS-based versions of Windows. Plug and Play architecture is announced with end-users in mind.
1994
Microsoft BackOffice, a suite of server products designed for small-to medium-sized businesses, launches. It provides a complete solution for networking, email, and web services, and it includes Windows NT Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and Internet Information Server.
1995
Microsoft launches Windows 95, the consumer-focused version of Windows. This launch helps define the future of personal computing. Users are introduced to the Start menu and taskbar, and this cements Windows' dominance in the OS market. The release is a major event and turns Windows into an essential platform for personal and professional users.
1996
Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 for Windows 95 is available in 22 languages, bringing the browser to the largest international audience of any internet client software. Year-end sales total $8.57 billion and the company employs 20,561 people.
1997
Microsoft launches two subsidiaries: Microsoft Dominicana S.A. and Microsoft Egypt LLC.
1998
1998 marks a changing of the guard. Bill Gates names Steve Ballmer as president. Ballmer, a close friend of Gates' from their student days at Harvard University, joined Microsoft in 1980, five years after its founding. Before becoming president, Ballmer was executive vice president of sales and support.
1999
Microsoft becomes one of the first software companies to create its own computer science research organization, Microsoft Research. By the end of the year, sales total $19.75 billion and 31,396 people are employed at Microsoft.
2000
Steve Ballmer is named president and CEO of Microsoft.
2001
Windows XP and Office XP launch and become known for stability and user-friendly interfaces. Windows XP becomes one of the best-selling OS versions and its release includes the Windows XP Tablet PC edition for OEMs and developers, which evolved to become the Surface.
2002
Bill Gates outlines Microsoft's commitment to a long-term initiative we call Trustworthy Computing. This is designed to bring an unparalleled level of security, privacy, reliability, and business integrity to computer systems. And, it becomes the highest priority for every product team, as well as a core mission for the entire company.
2003
Microsoft releases Microsoft CRM 1.0. This release is part of a business solutions lineup for managing customer relationships, improving sales, and boosting customer service efficiency. CRM 1.0 marks the beginning of what will evolve into Microsoft Dynamics CRM and eventually Dynamics 365.
2004
The release of "Halo 2" marks the single biggest event in entertainment history up to this point. The game tops $125 million in the first day and sells more than 5 million copies in the first month.
2005
After four engineers from Microsoft's DirectX team—Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase, and DirectX team leader Otto Berkes—envision how Microsoft can compete against the PlayStation 2, Microsoft launches Xbox 360. This next-generation video game platform is optimized for high-definition entertainment and online play.
2006
At $6.6 billion, Microsoft's investments in research and development surpass any other company in its industry, and the company receives its 5,000 patent.
2007
With the launches of new versions of flagship Microsoft® Windows® and Office products, including the Windows Vista operating system (code name "Longhorn") and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, 2007 saw the rollout of the biggest wave of business software in Microsoft's history. Key figures in the Vista launch include Jim Allchin, Brian Valentine, and Amitabh Srivastava.
2008
Windows Azure, known as "Project Red Dog," is first introduced at the Professional Developers Conference by Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect. This platform is an industry-leading move to help developers build the next generation of applications and deliver new experiences across the PC, Web, and phone.
2009
Microsoft unveils Bing, a search engine that replaces the Live Search product. Bing is designed as a decision engine—a faster way to make informed choices on purchases, travel, healthcare and finding local businesses. It crawls, analyzes, and indexes billions of webpages and other Internet content and relates all of that to keywords and phrases used by searchers.
2010
Microsoft goes "all in" on cloud and releases Windows Azure. This cloud computing platform marks a shift from software to services and Microsoft's commitment to cloud computing becomes crucial to its long-term growth.
2011
Microsoft bets big on the cloud for businesses and consumers. In 2010, it launches Office 365, a new service where Office meets the cloud. This subscription-based model and cloud-based applications boost the company's shift toward cloud services.
2012
After more than 1.24 billion hours of testing, Microsoft launches Windows 8. This operating system features a new, tile-based interface designed for touchscreen devices. Microsoft also announces a new family of PCs for Windows: Surface and Surface Pro tablets. For fiscal year 2012, revenue grows to a record $73.7 billion.
2013
Microsoft rallies behind a single strategy as "One Microsoft." Internally, this strategy is designed to break down barriers, foster collaboration, and unite a vast and diverse organiztion. More broadly, it focuses on creating a family of devices and services that empower people at home, at work, and on the go, for the activities people value most.
2014
Satya Nadella is named CEO and emphasizes a “mobile-first, cloud-first” strategy to guide Microsoft’s transformation within cloud and AI. The same year, Microsoft introduces Cortana, a digital personal assistant built into Windows Phone 8.1.
2015
Windows 10 launches as a service that unites user experiences across devices and Office 2016 launches as part of the bold mobile-first, cloud-first strategy.
2016
2016 saw all-time highs in Microsoft's stock price as the company advances its "mobile-first, cloud-first" strategy, completes its largest acquisition, adds huge new divisions, releases Microsoft Dynamics 365 and other new products, lands Facebook as an Office 365 customer, shows up on Saturday Night Live, and gets Windows 10 on hundreds of millions of devices. This same year, Microsoft announces that Microsoft Philanthropies will donate $1 billion in public cloud computing for nonprofits around the world.
2017
Office 365 gets a worldwide rollout: more than 100 million people use it commercially and more than 27 million use it on home and personal devices.
2018
Microsoft launches its AI for Good program. The program, led by John Kahan, who joined as the Chief Data Analytics Officer for Microsoft’s Corporate, External and Legal Affairs, is designed to use artificial intelligence to tackle the world's biggest challenges, including climate change, global health, and human rights. Part of the program is AI for Humanitarian Action, a global grant program focused on addressing distaster response, refugee protection, and the needs of children.
2019
Microsoft invests $1 billion in a partnership with OpenAI. The partnership is focused on building a platform that OpenAI will use to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies.
2020
Microsoft commits to a sustainable future with the announcement it will be carbon negative, zero waste, and water positive by 2030. Third, we must protect our most finite resource—the planet—by working toward a more sustainable future.
2021
Microsoft introduces Azure OpenAI Service, bringing GPT-3 to more developers. By this point, Microsoft is using GPT-3 to power GitHub’s Copilot tool that helps developers write code for them. Microsoft generates $168 billion in revenue.
2022
Microsoft announces plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc., a leader in game development and an interactive entertainment content publisher. The acquisition, valued at $68.7 billion, accelerates growth in gaming across mobile, PC, console, and cloud, and brings the joy of gaming to more people around the world.
2023
Microsoft enters a new era of AI. After making coding more efficient with GitHub, transforming productivity at work with Microsoft 365, and redefining search with Bing and Edge, Microsoft announces Copilot. The technology is marketed as an everyday AI companion.
2024
Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan join Microsoft to form a new organization called Microsoft AI. This program focuses on advancing Copilot and other consumer AI products and research.