[ALUG] 40 years Microsoft.

Mon Apr 6 21:18:22 EAT 2015

Ok, a little bit delayed, it was already on the 4.

A brief history of Micro-Soft with some IMHO important steps:

* 1975 it started as Traf-o-mat. Bill Gates and Paul Allen wanted to
provide traffic control systems.
Instead they told MITS manufacturing the Altair 8800 [1] that they have
a BASIC interpreter for this affordable Micro Computer. It was sold as
kit or as ready built machine. 1975 the price for the ready built
machine was 495$ which would be nowadays around 2200$ - noting compared
to the price of other small, affordable computers like a PDP-8: 18,000$
To squeze a BASIC interpreter in a computer with only 4kByte RAM (the
basic version had only 256 Bytes. Yes BYTE, not kilo, mega or giga) a
lot of very evil tricks have been used. Altair BASIC 3.2 is even not
3,5kB. The code [2] is somehow interesting to read.

* 1976 Gates published the "Open Letter to Hobbyists" [3]. The reactions
to this letter somehow can be seen as the start of the Open Source movement.

* 1980 Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft and his first project was the
SoftCard [4] a expansion card for Apple ][ computers to run CP/M on
them. The Softcard was their first hardware product and for some years
time their best selling and profitable product.

* 1981 The IBM-PC. Delivered with MS-DOS.
This was preparing the ground for Microsoft's raise. Before all BASIC
version they sold to Altair, Commodore, NEC, Philips, GE, Atari and
several others have been fixed payment deals. This deal was different.
IBM agreed to pay per sold PC and all rights remain with Microsoft. So
you got MS-DOS always. If you wanted it or not.
Microsoft bought QDOS from Seattle Computers for 50,000$ and sold it as
MS-DOS to IBM. Funny is: QDOS is based on CP/M which was also a
candidate OS for the PC.
I think intentionally the PC was developed so IBM could show we have
also such small computers, but never had the intention to really sell
it. Otherwise they would never agreed to such a licensing deal. Small
computers yes, but different. The PC did completely not fit in IBM's
portfolio, they had no support or experience to service and maintain
devices sold to end users. And the entire hardware design is in several
cases so weird. For example the floppy connector: This twisted cable. Or
the ISA-Bus timing. Very strange and weird. Seems this machine was built
out of parts found in the lab's lumber box.
So Apple placed the advertisement "Welcome, IBM. Seriously" [5].
But nevertheless the IBM-PC became a success. The dealers wanted
additional products than Apple ][ computers and clones or home computers
for hobbyist. And in companies where up to this no personal computers
have been used they started using the IBM-PC. Who bought from IBM never
got fired. Even when this computer was expensive: With 64kB RAM, a 8088
CPU at 4,77MHz a single floppy drive with 160kB and a monochrome test
only graphics: It was selling for 3000$. Other Computers offered more
for half the price. Still for several years the business PC market was
dominated by Apple and Commodore.
Microsoft could sell MS-DOS to over 50 other companies now also jumping
in the PC market.

* 1983 Windows is announced. Multiplan spread sheet and Word 1.0
With Multiplan Microsoft now has a spread sheet software which can
compete with VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3. Some of the real killer
applications why comanies bought personal computers like an Apple ][,
Commodore PET or even an IBM-PC.
anecdote: From 1979 until mit 1980 VisiCalc was not selling bad for
100$. But it became a real bestseller when the price was rised to 250$.

* 1984 Apple introduced the Mac and Microsoft could deliver Microsoft
BASIC and Multiplan for Mac, Word for Mac and Excel for Mac. Excel was
only available for Mac!

* 1985 Windows 1.0
Useless, after loading nearly no memory left for applications but a
first try. No multitasking, no overlapping windows, nothing. Far behind
what a Mac offered and light years behind what Amiga or Atari ST this
time had. Somehow even GEM for the Commodore 64 was better.
The desktop was organised in tiles - Hello Windows 8 :>

* 1987 Windows 2.0
Already better. And now Excel was also available for PC on Windows.
With Windows 2.1 came the Memory-Extender making RAM beyond the 1MB
barrier available.
In December the together with IBM developed OS/2 operating system was
released. The first version was without GUI but was compared to DOS a
quantum leap: Multitasking (up to 12 sessions and one DOS session), up
to 16MB memory. But it has a big disadvantage: It is written for 286
CPUs. Taking no advantage of the features a 386 CPU, Intel's first 32Bit
CPU offers. Two years after Intel shipped the 80386 PCs with this CPU
became "affordable" at least for professional users: A 386 PC with 2MB
RAM, 128kB Cache a 5,25" and a 3,5" floppy a 40MB hard disk and EGA
graphics was sold for less than 10,000$ without monitor but with
keyboard! But OS/2 was a really revolutionary system. The support for
386 CPUs will follow.

* 1988 OS/2 1.1
Now with a GUI called presentation manager [6].
Apple is filing a $5.5 billion lawsuit against Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard alleging copyright infringement and breach of contract.
This case was going on until 1992, Apple added every new version of
Windows to this case and ended finally in 1994 before the Court of
Appeals  with the finding that the 1985 license agreement permitted
Microsoft to make future products that resemble Macintosh even more
closely than the original Windows 1.0

* 1990 "Information at Your Fingertips"
Bill Gates is talking at the Comdex fair about his vision of graphical
interfaces. But until anything else than a pretty brochure could be
presented some years will pass.
In this year Microsoft sold first time software for over 1 billion dollars.

* 1991 Microsoft is breaking up with IBM leaving the OS/2 development
and is concentrating on NT which started already in 1988 official as NT
OS/2. But in truth it was never a OS/2. This alliance could only fail.
IBM and Microsoft: More different partners can not be.
DEC sued Microsoft because they feared that plenty of code from DEC
projects will be used in this system (nearly the entire NT development
crew was former working at DEC on VMS and mica). In a out of court
settlement Microsoft agreed to support with NT also the DEC Alpha CPUs.

* 1992 Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workroups.
The first really usable version of Windows. A result of "Information at
Your Fingertips"
Windows NT is first time public presented.
- The internet "happens". Becoming more and more public available.
Microsoft is ignoring it.

* 1993 Shipping Windows NT 3.1

* 1995 20 Years Microsoft.
Excel is a best-seller: Over 30 million copies sold. Windows 95 sold
only in the US over 1 million times within the first 4 days.

* 1996 Microsoft tries to establish with the MSN Network their own
"internet" and wants to marketing is as information highway. They fail
seriously.

* 1997 Internet Explorer
As a result: The browser wars and following monopole law suits in the US
and Europe. The cases in US Microsoft was winning in Europe they have
been fined several hundred million Euros.

* 1998 Windows 98
Halloween Documents [7]
This leaked confidential documents identifying open source software and
especially Linux as the biggest thread to Microsoft's dominance.
Out of the in this documents developed strategy "fear, uncertainty, and
doubt" to threaten users using opens source software instead of
Microsoft products in 2006 the website www.wehavethewayout.com was set
up as a part of a $25 million marketing campaign against open source
software. It was first hosted on a FreeBSD server running Apache. When
this was realised the panic migration to IIS brought the site down for
several days.

* 1999 Windows ME (miserable edition)
The failed try to get a Windows 2000 similar system based on the Windows
9x technology. Microsoft was the opinion that Windows 2000 is not
suitable for home users.

* 2000 Bill Gates is leaving the operational business and Steve Ballmer
is now the big boss.

* 2001 Windows XP is becoming the most successful Windows version (but
it is now since one year EOL. If you still use it: Upgrade! Best to a
Open Source OS)

* 2005 Microsoft is celebrating it's 30st birthday, reminiscing in
memories while Apple is presenting the iPhone.

* 2007 Windows Vista the biggest flop in Microsoft's history.

* 2009 Windows 7 to clean up the Vista disaster.
With bing is started. Microsoft is slowly waking up. Not only Open
Source is about to topple them: Also google with their free web based
apps and Android and also Apple with their iOS eco system.

* 2012 Microsoft tries with the Surface Tablet to change from the
software only company to a complete solution supplier.

* 2013 Microsoft acquires Nokia to push their Windows Phone.
Steve Ballmer is handing over to Satya Nadella the former manager of
Microsofts clud services.

* 2014 Several projects are announced to be released in source code or
already released like .Net under a MIT licence. [8]

* 2015 28. March Microsoft is releasing the update KB3035583 [9]
After reducing the support time frame for Windows 7 and Windows 8 it
seems to be a preparation to aggressively roll out Windows 10.

The future:
Windows 10 for free.
More you must have cloud subscriptions.
More software released under a OSS licence: If you can not fight them,
join them. Microsoft is already one of the big code suppliers to Linux.
Not only out of good faith. If Linux is not running in their Azure Cloud
and with their Hyper-V virtulisation: They loose business.
If you can not fight them, join them.

But anyway: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800
[2] http://altairbasic.org/
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists
[4] http://apple2info.net/index.php?title=Microsoft_SoftCard
[5]
http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/jobs-apple-welcome-ibm-seriously-ad.php
[6] http://www.os2museum.com/wp/os2-history/os2-1-1/ms11_cpanel/
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents
[8] https://github.com/Microsoft
[9] http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583

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