Products from Microsoft Co

The company Microsoft

Founding year: 1975

Founders: Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen

No company is as polarized as Microsoft Inc. and no other company can look back on such a breathtaking development. Nor has any other company... learn more »

The company Microsoft

Founding year: 1975

Founders: Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen

No company is as polarized as Microsoft Inc. and no other company can look back on such a breathtaking development. Nor has any other company produced more income millionaires. That alone cries out for envy. Microsoft was also affected by this. But first things first.

One operating system and several variants

At the beginning of the 80s IBM developed its personal computer. However, there was no suitable operating system. In a tender Microsoft participated with a possible operating system and was awarded the contract.

The operating system IBM-DOS was born. Due to a faulty contract design IBM did not receive the exclusive exploitation rights. What had to come, came. Gates and Allen introduced their own operating system MS-DOS. What IBM had not considered, the industry was just waiting for a machine like the personal computer. It was mainly small businesses, private households and students who were not averse to an expensive purchase at that time. But IBM had no experience with these markets, because at home the company was in the mainframe sector.

List of DOS operating systems

• IBM DOS
• QDOS
• CP/M DOS
• MSDOS

The rise of Microsoft Windows

In addition to providing an operating system, Microsoft pushed application programs, such as the Multiplan spreadsheet program, behind. At that time, Microsoft Windows could not be heard or read about. On the other hand, sales of IBM PCs increased dramatically and with every computer sold, Microsoft received license fees and a new customer for free. At this time, IBM noticed its contract error, which could not be corrected anymore.

IBM and Microsoft decided to work together on a large software project. The idea was to develop an operating system called OS/2. It was also ready for production. But as is the case with unequal partners, the differences grew and eventually both companies ended the cooperation.

This cooperation resulted in the operating system Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server, which was introduced by Microsoft in the following. IBM in turn believed in its OS/2 and developed it further. As good as OS/2 was, there was one crucial shortcoming. The application software was missing. This was different with Windows NT. There Microsoft could score with its own applications and the individual software providers could use their experiences from the previous Windows versions.

Stock exchange listing of Microsoft Inc.

In 1985 the company went public. This step was important because expanding companies have a permanent problem with liquidity. The Microsoft share was initially listed as penny stock with a purchase price of approx. 0.50 US cents.

Extract from the product line of Microsoft Inc.

The success of a company is always based on the acceptance of its products and services by the demand market. Through skilful marketing, Microsoft has always succeeded in getting its customers excited about a new product. The unique selling proposition is particularly strong in the area of data integration between applications.

An example is the cooperation of the Exchange Server with Outlook. In this combination, Outlook is not only an e-mail client, but address books, room allocations, vacation plans and e-mails in public folders can be made available centrally.

The following are some important software products that can be regarded as pillars of success for Microsoft Inc.

Microsoft Windows

Year of first publication: 1985

With Windows 1.0 Microsoft laid the foundation for all subsequent operating systems. In the first versions, the term "Windows" refers to the administration interface in the form of windows. The actual operating system for starting the computer was still a DOS version. This changed with Windows NT and later with Windows 95.

Windows Server

Year of first publication: 1993

Microsoft developed the Microsoft Windows NT Server from the cooperation with IBM on the joint OS/2 project. Up to this point, setting up a server was considered very complex and time-consuming. This changed with Windows NT Server and the IT departments of companies gratefully accepted this.

The Windows server has not only established itself in companies, it is also used for Web services in data centers.

SQL Server

Year of first release: 1989 for OS/2; 1993 for Windows NT

In the beginning there was hardly a software provider who needed the SQL Server for his data. The providers of enterprise software used their own files and database formats and the SQL Server was only used by a few applications and system services.

This changed with the elimination of the BNC networks. These only provided a theoretical network connection of 10 MB, but the new CAT5 networks provided up to 100 MB. Today, the SQL Server is an integral part of all Microsoft Windows operating systems

Microsoft Exchange Server

Year of first publication: 1996

Microsoft designed its server software so that it could be assembled like a construction kit. For example with the Microsoft Exchange Server, which can be used as groupware and for internal and external message traffic.

The Microsoft Exchange Server is not a stand-alone application, but is installed on an existing Windows server.

Microsoft Office

Year of first publication: 1989 / 1990

There is no user who does not know Microsoft Office. Here Microsoft has bundled parts of its office applications into a single offering. The Office version always contains the following components:

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint

With these three applications, any company and any user can perform complex tasks such as

• Presentations
• Private and business transactions
• Creation of complex mathematical calculations

carry out. The Word document often serves as a central anchor point. This is because the information created in the other programs can be entered in Word to form a complete document. Microsoft Office is the most sold application package worldwide.

Visual Studio

Year of first publication: 2010

This is a development environment for creating software programs. Here, Microsoft primarily addresses companies and administrators to create tools for business operations themselves. No in-depth knowledge of programming is required for the application. Visual Studio is supported by a large developer and user community.

Microsoft Project

Year of first publication: 1984

With Microsoft Project, Microsoft addresses users who have to manage highly complex processes in a project. These are above all:

• Architects
• Construction companies
• Manufacturing companies

Microsoft Project takes over the control and monitoring of the individual project sections and identifies bottlenecks at an early stage.

Microsoft Visio

Year of first publication: not known

In 2000, Microsoft took over Visio with its software of the same name.

With Microsoft Visio the user creates:

• flowcharts
• Diagrams and construction plans
• Organization charts

Even though the program can be used intuitively, training is recommended.

Paul G. Allen died in October 2018