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Microsoft Releases Windows 3.11
December 31, 1993 Microsoft releases version 3.11 of Windows, a minor upgrade to Windows 3.1. It became the last stable version of Windows before Windows 95 was released in August of 1995. Microsoft Releases Windows 3.11 is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This…
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Apple Sues Microsoft for Copyright Infringement
March 17, 1988 Apple Computer famously sues Microsoft Corporation for copyright infringement in its Windows operating system. Apple eventually lost the lawsuit in 1995. Apple Sues Microsoft for Copyright Infringement is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in Tech History.com
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Microsoft Goes Public
March 13, 1986 Ten years after the company’s founding, Microsoft Corporation stock goes public at $ 21 per share. The stock, which eventually closed at $ 27.75 a share, peaked at $ 29.25 a share shortly after the opening. It is said that the rising value of Microsoft stock has made an estimated 4 billionaires and 12,000…
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Microsoft Ships Internet Explorer 2.0
November 27, 1995 Nearly 6 months to the day after Bill Gates sent his Internet Tidal Wave memo recognizing the importance of the Internet, and only 3 months after releasing version 1.0, Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 2.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.5. IE 2.0 was still based on licensed code from Spyglass Mosaic, but was the…
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Microsoft Introduces Zune
November 14, 2006 Knock-knock Who’s there? Microsoft Zune. Microsoft Zune who? Exactly. Microsoft releases their Zune media player, intended to compete with Apple’s iPod. Hailed by some as an “iPod-killer”, the only killing done was by Microsoft less than 5 years later when they ended production of the Zune brand. Otherwise known as simply another…
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Microsoft Declares Tablets Are the Future
November 12, 2000 Bill Gates demonstrates a functional prototype of a Tablet PC. Microsoft claims “the Tablet PC will represent the next major evolution in PC design and functionality.” However, the Tablet PC initiative never really takes off and it isn’t until Apple introduces the iPad in 2010 that tablet computing is widely adopted. In…
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Microsoft Word 1.0 for DOS
September 29, 1983 Microsoft releases their first software application, Microsoft Word 1.0. For use with MS-DOS compatible systems, Word was the first word processing software to make extensive use of a computer mouse. Not coincidentally, Microsoft had released a computer mouse for IBM-compatible PCs earlier in the year. A demo version was also included for…
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Apple and Microsoft Call Truce
August 6, 1997 At the Macworld Expo in Boston, Steve Jobs announces that Apple and Microsoft have signed a five-year alliance. Bill Gates famously makes his seemingly ominous “big brother” appearance on the large presentation screen during the announcement. As part of the deal, Microsoft committed to continuing development of Microsoft Office for Mac over…
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Microsoft Buys Full Rights to 86-DOS
July 27, 1981 About two weeks before IBM begins shipping the first IBM PC, Microsoft buys the full rights to the operating system 86-DOS, formerly known as QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), from Seattle Computer Products for $ 50,000. Microsoft had previously paid $ 25,000 to SCP for a non-exclusive license in December 1980…
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Microsoft Incorporated
June 25, 1981 Founded six years earlier by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft officially incorporated as a company. The timing of the incorporation was about 2 months ahead of the release of the IBM PC, which would soon change the fortune of Microsoft and the entire technology industry. Microsoft Incorporated is original content of…