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- thefurball, on 11/11/2008, -5/+75Missing - BSOD at press launch of Windows 98. Top moment, for sure.
- inactive, on 11/10/2008, -4/+73For me No1 should be Gates selling IBM an operating system he didn't even own - he went and bought it once the deal was done for $50,000 - Genius!
- Ramzy, on 11/11/2008, -0/+25Bill gates Founds the Company
As the middle child and only son of Seattle lawyer William H. Gates Sr. and Mary Gates, a board member of the United Way, William Gates III became the co-founder of Microsoft, one of the richest men in the world and the purveyor of the operating system Windows, which was released 25 years ago on November 10, 1983.
Before his days as a billionaire, Gates was a student at the exclusive Lakeside School in Seattle, writing programs on a school typewriter with his friend, upperclassman Paul Allen. While Gates was an undergraduate at Harvard in 1975, the two men pitched their programming language BASIC to MITS, a company that was marketing an early personal computer, the Altair 8800. MITS agreed to use the language they'd developed, and Gates and Allen began referring to their venture as Micro-Soft, registering the word "Microsoft" as a trademark a year later. Gates soon after quit Harvard for good — but not before making the acquaintance of Steve Ballmer, who has been Microsoft's CEO since 2000.
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Going Public
After four years of work, Gates and Allen had begun producing their operating system MS-DOS for IBM, but retained the right to license the program to other companies. Microsoft revenues rose quickly and exceeded $140 million in 1985. Just two years prior, Allen had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease and ended his full-time work at the company, leaving Gates and then-business manager Steve Ballmer at the helm.
In its third and final location change, Microsoft offices moved from Bellevue, Washington to Redmond, a suburb of Seattle. On March 13, 1986 the company went public; the share price rose from $21 to $28 on the first day of trading.
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Microsoft Office Released
Although Microsoft Word had been around since 1983, developed for use with MS-DOS and later for the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, the first official version of the group of desktop applications (Excel, Powerpoint, Word) — Microsoft Office — was released in 1989 for the Mac. Despite a seemingly good working relationship between the two companies, just a year before, Apple had filed a suit against Microsoft claiming that its Windows interface was illegally similar to Apple's OS. The six-year court battle netted Apple a loss and effectively cemented Microsoft's reign as the world's leading computer software manufacturer.
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Earth to Microsoft, the Internet is Good
While the Internet was expanding by leaps and bounds, Microsoft waited on the sidelines. In TIME's 100 Most Important People of the Century profile of Gates, according to Yale computer science professor David Gelernter, while the rest of the technology world was getting excited about E-mail and Web browsing, "Gates hung back. It wasn't until 1996 that Microsoft finally, according to Gates himself, 'embraced the Internet wholeheartedly.'"
In August of that year, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 3.0. instilling fear in its competitors. Despite the dot-com crash of 2000, the company's headcount climbed to more than 39,000.
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Saying Goodbye to Bob
One of the more controversial ventures in Microsoft's history — both because of its spectacular failure to take off in the market and its prescient foreshadowing of user interfaces to come — Bob was unfortunately ahead of its time. Released in March 1995, with Melinda Gates, Bill's newly wedded wife, as lead marketing manager, it differed greatly from Windows' menu-based, text-heavy interface.
Instead, Bob presented a desktop screen as an image of a room with a desk, bookshelf, a fireplace and other items. The various items in the room — a Rolodex, calendar, checkbook — would start up the appropriate program. "Bob was the first software that was really task-oriented, as opposed to program-oriented," Clifford Nass, a Stanford professor who helped develop Bob, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1999. It was a precursor to the programs today that "learn" user habits, making more popular applications more prominent. In addition to poor sales, Bob was incapable of competing with Microsoft's newest wonder, Windows 95, and was discontinued after a year.
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"Do Not Pass Go"
Microsoft had promised the government that it wouldn't engage in monopoly practices, but in 1998 the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the company in what was viewed as the most sweeping antitrust charges in generations. The case centered around Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with its operating system, which the DOJ argued hurt browser competitors like Netscape. In 2000, a federal judged ruled against Microsoft and agreed that it had engaged in anti-competitive practices. That ruling was overturned by an appeals court, leading to an eventual settlement, in which Microsoft agreed to disclose insider information about its software and set up an antitrust advisory board. Microsoft's anti-competitive troubles spilled across the Atlantic Ocean, with a European court ordering the software giant to share its programming codes with rival companies and pay millions in fines. Microsoft operating systems are still used on more than 90 % of PCs worldwide.
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Windows XP Debuts
Users welcomed the 2001 launch of Windows XP, which was more stable, more attractive and more user-friendly than the Microsoft operating systems that preceded it, including Windows 95, Windows 2000 and Windows ME. The new system made burning CDs easier, along with managing music files and photos. Icons and text for XP were more bubbly and graphical than previous versions and looked more like the Macintosh operating systems. But XP required so much memory that only computers less than two years old, for the most part, could easily handle it.
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A Jump Into Crowded Waters With the Xbox
At the turn of the century, Microsoft and Bill Gates realized that the company really, really wanted a piece of the video game market. Gates built buzz for the Xbox for over a year before unveiling the console at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2001. By the holiday shopping season, gamers all over America wanted them, launching a three-way battle for video-game dominance between the Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube. More than 1,000 people lined up in Times Square to snag the first Xboxes at midnight on Nov. 15. Microsoft had a $500 million marketing budget for the game platform, which also contained a hard drive and Internet connectivity. The Xbox was more powerful and more expensive — not to mention heavier — than the PlayStation 2, but lacked Sony’s stable of popular games — it didn’t take off as a platform until the stunning success of Halo, a mankind-vs-aliens space opera that helped redefine the first-person shooter genre. The next year, Microsoft launched Xbox Live, a paid subscription service allowing gamers to play with opponents all over the world. In 2005, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, which sold out of countless stores before Christmas. But Xbox faces a challenge to its dominance from an old competitor: Nintendo’s new Wii console. Earlier this fall, Microsoft cut the price of the Xbox 360 to $199 for the cheapest model to undercut Sony's latest PlayStation ($399) and the Wii ($249).
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Vista Launched, Crashes Soon Thereafter
Vista was introduced after years of production delays, rumors and industry buzz, which probably amplified the criticism it received. While reviewers called Vista’s stylish new visuals a success, the operating system caused enough hiccups for users that it soon developed a toxic reputation. Vista sales did not live up to Microsoft’s expectations and earlier this year, the company acknowledged the operating system needed a face-lift to counter the negative word-of-mouth campaign against it. The company conducted focus groups with people who had heard bad things about Vista and showed them a demonstration of the Microsoft "Mojave" operating system. After the interviewees gave Mojave high marks, it was revealed that what they were seeing was actually Vista. This video marketing campaign may help resuscitate Vista, but in case you had any doubts about whether the operating system has caused Microsoft one big long headache — less than two years after Vista's debut, Microsoft unveiled its successor, Windows 7, in October.
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Seinfeld Misfire
Hammered by Apple’s hugely successful Mac/PC commercials (starring Justin Long and John Hodgman, respectively, as the embodiment of the different computer systems) Microsoft reportedly paid Jerry Seinfeld $10 million for a series of ads also starring Bill Gates. In the ads, the two appear in a discount shoe store where Jerry helps Bill try on a new pair of kicks. It was hard to see the relevance of Seinfeld — whose sitcom went off the air in 1998 — and Gates, other than the fact that both are so rich that the idea of them discount shoe shopping is ridiculous. The tagline for the commercials was "Microsoft. Delicious," which was equally vexing. When it became the clear that the public just didn't get whatever joke or message Microsoft was trying to convey, the company admitted in a statement, "The answer, in the classic Seinfeld sense of the word, is nothing." Apparently Microsoft decided the Seinfeld ads didn't quite hit the mark. The commercials were pulled soon after their debut and replaced with an ad campaign directly targeting the Apple ads, in which regular Americans and some celebrities — including Eva Longoria and Tony Parker — admit, Alcoholics Anonymous style, that they, too, are PCs. After the switch, Microsoft said the short-lived Seinfeld commercials were all part of their marketing master plan. - Jeepinator, on 11/11/2008, -0/+17oh he ruined microsoft? how so? HE FOUNDED IT! despite a downturn in recent years it has still had a HUGE net gain.
- websyndicate, on 11/11/2008, -2/+161. Bill Gates Founds the Company
2. Going Public
3. Microsoft Office Released
4. Earth to Microsoft, the Internet is Good
5. Saying Goodbye to Bob
6. Do Not Pass Go
7. Windows XP Debuts
8. A Jump Into Crowded Waters With the Xbox
9. Vista Launched, Crashes Soon Thereafter
10. Seinfeld Misfire
thank you - Lucas123, on 11/11/2008, -10/+24Gates steals from Jobs. Jobs steals from Xerox. It's one big happy Silicon Valley pirate ring.
- digitalpencil, on 11/11/2008, -4/+18seems to be the presiding mantra of digg these days.. "leave Vista alone!!!!"
- CaptRage, on 11/11/2008, -1/+12In the image above, doesn't Gates look like Erik from That 70's show?
- serif69, on 11/11/2008, -0/+11No Uncle Fester? Come on, Ballmer deserves at least one mention for all of the craziness he's brought us through the years.
- JoelJ, on 11/11/2008, -0/+11Are you serious? The Seinfeld commercials made the top ten Microsoft moments? No way. Microsoft has done better and worse than that.
That article could've had some more thought put into it. It was like it was the "Top ten things that come to my mind when I think about Microsoft" Hardly the top ten moments in MS history. - Firespray1138, on 11/11/2008, -0/+10The election is over, let it go.
- handsoffme, on 11/11/2008, -1/+10I couldn't even read this article, 10 pages? Even the print link only shows one page at a time. ***** off Time you greedy bastards.
- douglasr007, on 11/11/2008, -5/+14Vista isn't that bad...
- douglasr007, on 11/11/2008, -1/+9The launch of Windows 95 was definitely a top moment for Microsoft.
- bicyclethief, on 11/11/2008, -0/+8This story could make for a great cult classic movie...
- gerrylazlo, on 11/11/2008, -0/+6Those Seinfeld adds were so self-consciously quirky I wanted to vomit.
- Jikul, on 11/11/2008, -0/+5Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgriTO8UHvs
Just for those who didn't know :p - digitalpencil, on 11/11/2008, -0/+5***** that, it's my raison d' être to whinge about multi-page sumissions!
- Fabbyfubz, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4Is that some Chinese WoW on slide 4?
- newmanium2001, on 11/11/2008, -3/+7I would hardly think that the Seinfeld commercials were a failure and I have a tough time believing that's in the top 10 moments of the company. I rarely even watch TV commercials, but I looked up the Seinfeld commercials on YouTube because I heard about them ... seems like mission accomplished for an advertising team there.
And as for the 9th moment, "Vista launched, Crashes Soon Thereafter" .... yikes. That couldn't be more wrong. This "journalist" seems to have been influenced by the ambiguous and frequently deceptive Mac commercials. Vista really doesn't crash. I've been using it since November 06 and it's crashed twice (the day I installed it ... wrong ATA driver). But did Vista fail? YES! Don't get me wrong there. But, the reason it failed is not crashes (and certainly not the Mac commercials) -- it's because users, especially businesses, didn't see any new features in Vista compelling enough to go through the pain of upgrading. - nebkiwi, on 11/11/2008, -1/+5Do you been Steve Ballmer?
- inactive, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4i use to hate vista but its actually not that bad since i started using it. i feel almost dirty writing this.
- mw113, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4yeah it does, the lineage goes from nt->2k->xp->vista
- darthgoat, on 11/11/2008, -1/+4Developers
Developers
Developers
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Developers - cquinnd, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3He knew about it before the deal was done.
He even recommended another companies OS to IBM at first, and when IBM came back to him for alternatives he would have been foolish to not take on the opportunity. - Prod_Deity, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3"After the switch (away from the Seinfeld commercials), Microsoft said the short-lived Seinfeld commercials were all part of their marketing master plan."
I call *****.
"In 2000, a federal judged ruled against Microsoft and agreed that it had engaged in anti-competitive practices. That ruling was overturned by an appeals court, leading to an eventual settlement, in which Microsoft agreed to disclose insider information about its software and set up an antitrust advisory board."
I'm no rabbid Linux or Mac fan boy, but I hope that the world has learned it's lesson on not to allow this kind of thing to happen again.
Just my $0.02 - cquinnd, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3"but they were very rude to the IBM people "
That is not entirely true. IBM was working on a secret project at the time to create their own personal computer. They made every company they were dealing with for that project sign an exclusive NDA before being told what the project was. Gates had little problem signing the NDA because he understood where IBM was coming from. Kildall was not their when IBM first came around to his company: IDR, but his wife (the Vice President of the company) and company lawyer were there; the company lawyer did not think it was a good idea to sign the NDA without any idea what it might bind the company to. So the inital talks between IBM and IDR fell thru.
Later they were able to make a deal, but by that time IBM had already gone back to Gates looking for an alternative OS for their introductory PC.
There were actually three OSes made available for the first IBM PC at or soon after launch. DOS was just the version that was already ported over to the 8086 CPU on the first day the computer sold. History might have been different if CP/M-86 had been available at the same time. - Trick07, on 11/11/2008, -1/+4I actually went to Office Depot at 12AM the day it was released. Ate one of the free donuts that were there for customers and went home to install Windows 95. By mid-day I was back to Win 3.1 for a few more months until I bit the bullet and figured out how to use Windows 95...
- Ramzy, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3It's #5 on the list, mate.
- ThatEvilGuy, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2Exactly, it's not like he tricked IBM,
Microsoft directed IBM to the guy(Gary Kildall) that had an operating system, but they were very rude to the IBM people and basically IBM had to go back to Microsoft, and told them to handle the operating system problem, and they did. The movie "Pirates of silicon valley" shows as if they approached and tricked IBM, but that was not the case, IBM chose microsoft.
Watch - Triumph of the Nerds, it's a very good documentary. - kibbledbits, on 11/11/2008, -5/+7My favorite moment in Windows: using Windows 95 for the first time at school and I thought "wow this is alright, okay time to go back to DOS. Wait how do I exit Windows? NOOO!!!!"
- rockon4life45, on 11/11/2008, -12/+14For those people who hate Microsoft and multi-page submissions, I'd turn around right now.
On the other hand you could grow up. - MattB123, on 11/11/2008, -2/+4I liked the Seinfeld commercials. I still don't know what they were trying to say but I found them amusing.
- renanrcarvalho, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2I was so disappointed when realized that the 98 BSOD was not on the list.
- JQP123, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1"What's really sad is that they're using similar tactics today against companies like Asus in order to lock up the netbook market to keep Linux from gaining a foothold."
If you can actually prove that, I suggest you report them to the US DOJ. - klashar, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1I'm sick of that kind of thing requiring clicking. Stick it on one page!
- cleric04, on 11/11/2008, -1/+2I like "Microsoft Office is Released" and Bill is holding up a copy of windows.
- ilana, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1To clarify info on the first page...BASIC was developed by Jack Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz at Dartmouth in 1964. Gates' and Allen's version was Altair BASIC, soon to be known as MBASIC
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC_programming_lan ... - lpcustom, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1If he's William Gates III and he's the son of William Gates Senior......WHERE'S THE MISSING BILL?????!
- Scott2, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1They forgot the pie in the face moment too!
- edicius, on 11/12/2008, -0/+1I think it was more a play on words. The paragraph under it doesn't accuse it of crashing.
- edicius, on 11/12/2008, -0/+1only son, daughters still count as children
- sparcnut, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Bob is in there.
- zeebo, on 11/11/2008, -1/+2Its happening right now in the netbook market.
- bigt8dogg, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Okay, how does he become William H Gates III when his father is William H Gates Sr?
- Chalks777, on 11/12/2008, -0/+1You're welcome.
- wrobin, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Actually the DOJ was offered proof of exactly this kind of tactic during their original battle with Microsoft, but was too fully invested in their IE vs Netscape argument/investigation and didn't pursue it.
They passed up the bigger problem to chase the smaller one, and Microsoft's true monopoly abuses were allowed to continue and got us where we are with essentially every pc shipping with Windows rather than any kind of real desktop os competition that would be good for the consumer. - zeebo, on 11/11/2008, -1/+1They're doing it in taiwan, I think that's out of their jurisdiction.
- LockDeltz, on 11/13/2008, -0/+0They didn't do that just to BeOS they also did that to DR-DOS. They made companies that used DR-DOS sign secret contracts to exclusively use MS-DOS, thus killing DR-DOS sales. And this was at a time when DR-DOS was doing quite well. Had Gates not done those illegal anti-competitive tactics, Gary Kildall would of never sold Digital Research and still be alive today.
- natenovs, on 11/11/2008, -2/+2"Icons and text for XP were more bubbly and graphical than previous versions and looked more like the Macintosh operating systems. But XP required so much memory that only computers less than two years old, for the most part, could easily handle it."
Sound familiar? So, shut up already about Vista... -
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