Its user interface saw the first appearance of the long-running Windows features such as the Start button and menu.
Many new features were built in, such as plug-and-play automatic device detection and configuration. This operating system was a consumer-oriented hybrid 32-bit/16-bit OS with a brand-new user interface. Microsoft used the Rolling Stones song Start Me Up to introduce its new platform. Various NT variants have appeared on many CPU architectures through the years, including IA-32, x86-64, MIPS, Alpha, PowerPC, ARM and Itanium.Īugust 24, 1995:Microsoft launches Windows 95, is a consumer-oriented operating system, which was a significant improvement over the company’s previous DOS-based Windows products. This platform entered the market with unprecedented push. It was equipped with a hybrid kernel and a hardware abstraction layer to facilitate porting between processor platforms. Windows NT 3.1 will be a fully 32-bit pre-emptive “multitasking, multithreaded, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system”. The platform was initially developed for the Intel i860, and its N-Ten codename fave the version its name (but Microsoft said later that NT meant New Technology).
#MICROSOFT OFFICE TIMELINE OF RELEASES SOFTWARE#
Born from the wreckage of Microsoft’s ill-fated partnership with IBM, Windows NT was built from the ground up under the leadership of ex-DEC software engineer Dave Cutler. This version introduced Program Manager and File Manager, along with a redesigned Control Panel and Solitaire game which remains a Windows staple to our days. May 22, 1990: Microsoft launches its Windows 3.0 graphical environment, the first widely successful version of Windows. This version saw significant interface changes (everything now looked much better thanks to this version’s support for 256-color VGA), as well as improved exploitation of the Intel 286 and 386 processors’ memory management capabilities. Windows 2.0 used the real-mode memory model, limiting memory access to 1MB.Īugust 1, 1989:Microsoft introduces the first version of Office suite of productivity applications. Windows 2.0 allowed application windows to overlap each other unlike its predecessor Windows 1.0, which could display only tiled windows. Windows 2.0 was also the first Microsoft’s platform which could run Microsoft’s Word and Excel applications. It is a 16-bit GUI-based operating environment, the successor to Windows 1.0. March 13, 1986: Microsoft becomes a public stock company.ĭecember 9, 1987: Windows 2.0 is released.
moves to corporate campus in Redmond, Washington. It had, though, desktop features such as the MS-DOS Executive file manager, Notepad, Calendar, Terminal, Cardfile, Clock, Calculator, Clipboard, Print Spooler, and RAMDrive for managing memory cards designed to beat the PC’s 640KB memory limit, Windows Paint and Windows Write, Windows 1.0 even had a game, called Reversi.Windows 1.0 cost $99, as a special introductory offer.įebruary 26, 1986: Microsoft Inc. November 20, 1985:Microsoft releases Windows 1.0, a graphical personal computer operating environment that enabled users to see user friendly icons on screen. The release of the Windows 1.0 meant the end for Microsoft’s command-line DOS (short for Disk Operating System), but the first version of Windows could only support tiled windows. June 25, 1981:Incorporation of Microsoft.Īugust 12, 1981: IBM introduces its first personal computer which runs MS-DOS 1.0, Microsoft’s 16-bit operating system. January 1, 1979: Microsoft moves its headquarters from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Bellevue, Washington. The company’s name spelled as Micro-Soft at the time. 3 The History of Microsoft (1975-2001) Īpri 4, 1975: Microsoft is founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates with the purpose of developing and selling BASIC interpreters for Altair 8800, a microcomputer designed in 1974 by MITS and based on the Intel 8080 CPU.1 Important Dates in Microsoft’s History.