History of Computers: Microsoft Windows
Every time I turn on my Dell computer the screen pops up that says loading Windows XP software. My roommate turns on her computer and it says the same thing, as with most people on my floor. Today this seems to be the trend with most computers no matter what brand of hardware. This was not always the case though, Windows software is actually a fairly new technology that has grown much over the years and continues to develop and change even today. I wouldn know where I would be without my Windows software, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. This software is important in so many lives and companies today that it would be hard to imagine a time without it.
Windows software was not always as popular as it is today. It took a lot of work to develop this complex software. Let start by taking a brief look back on the major software before Windows, to fully understand why Microsoft Windows gradually became a total hit. Before Microsoft Windows there was MS-DOS. MS-DOS was a highly complicated operating system that often frustrated its users and was difficult to learn. Interaction with the operating system was by command line interference. Every command had to be typed in exactly right and the system was case sensitive (Campbell-Kelly 264). If anything was incorrect in the command line, then the whole command had to be retyped (264). Not only did this prove to be frustrating, but once you got the hang of this type of command typing, you would go use another program and the command set would be totally different. There were not standard interference commands and therefore every company made theirs different (265).
With the hope of inventing something better than MS-DOS, in 1985 Windows 1.0 was finally released after a preemptive marketing announcement three years earlier (Rojas 828). Windows 1.0 was not well received and was no where near the capabilities of the Macintosh software which offered clear graphics and fonts. Windows 1.0 still had many of the same type of problems encountered with MS-DOS (History of Microsoft Windows).
By 1993 Microsoft's windows computer programming function became the most widely used operating system in the world. When Microsoft was still an idea, Bill Gates led Apple to believe he would help them succeed in creating the best computer programming systems in the nation, however, Gates left it unknown to Apple he planned to release his own software. Gates took notes and allowed Apple to release the software he helped them to create. Then shortly after, Microsoft introduced windows. Apple claimed Gates had stolen their ideas, as windows looked surprisingly similar to Apple's version. Gates claimed he used his own ideas because it was his own that made Apple's renowned software. As Microsoft was leading in the world, Apple threatened Microsofts position in the world of technological advances by introducing a new software program that could potentially take Microsoft's top spot in the market away from them. Gates quickly said that he had created a new software that was set to release also, although he had no idea of new software at the time and made the excuse to possibly buy himself a bit of time. About eight months later, Microsoft released the new software program, as bill gates had proclaimed, retaining the top spot in the market. Microsoft's expansion today has reached every technological realm possible. Occluded in the newest developments are
In late 1980, International Business Machines needed an operating system for its new home computer, the IBM PC. Microsoft subsequently purchased all rights to QDOS for $10,000, and renamed it MS-DOS (for Microsoft Disk Operating System). It was released as IBM PC-DOS 1.0 with the introduction of the PC in 1981. In contracting with IBM, however, Microsoft had retained the rights to license the software to other computer vendors as MS-DOS.
In 1981 Microsoft took the first step toward diversification in the market for programming languages and released MS- DOS, an operating system to the first computer or personal computer (PC ) from IBM. Microsoft then convinced other computer manufacturers to distribute licensed MS- DOS , ...
The computer programmers decided to make the dates in these operating systems and programs with 2 digits(73) instead of 4(1973). That was all fine until about the early 90's when computer programmers noticed something. They saw that when the year 2000 rolled around the computers would read the date as 00 instead of 2000. The computer would think, "1900?", but I was made in 1973.
Gates purchased a system QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) for $50,000 from another company, changed the named to MS-DOS and sold it to IBM. So on the contrary to public opinion, Bill Gates did not write MS-DOS, he bought it, changed it slightly, and put his name on it. In order for Microsoft to get to the top, they had to have a very good business strategy. Their strategy is to sell software at low prices, until people are hooked.
Microsoft’s mission of placing a “PC running Microsoft software on every desk and in every home” drove their overall strategy early on. Depending on the business segment within Microsoft, one would see in place very different business models as the strategy for each line of business could vary. In the operating system (OS) segment, Microsoft initially brought in an existing product and modified this (MS-DOS) to work with the Intel microprocessor, which were the “brains” of the IBM PC. Microsoft partnered with IBM to provide the operating system for the IBM PC. In addition to developing Windows, Microsoft during this period was working to write applications for the Apple OS.
It is true people are more familiar with Microsoft Windows rather than Apple's Mac OS X. After the release of Microsoft's Windows 3.0 in the 1990's, the Apple corporation fell, and more and more people started purchasing Microsoft's Windows, and forgetting that Apple even had an OS. ('1990-1995: Apple vs. Microsoft in the Enterprise.') While Apple only tried to sell their product to the upper class citizen and top businesses, Microsoft looked for ways to push their software out in any and every possible direction. ('1990-1995: Why the World Went Windows') Due to this renown, Microsoft has gained much business and publicity in both the corporate and public worlds. Today Microsoft Windows is everywhere, in almost every office, and in millions of homes around the world. Also, schools across the United States are running Microsoft Windows on their computer hardware. Microsoft Windows? interface and many of their features greatly differ from that of Apple?s Mac OS X. Since both school systems and most major businesses run Microsoft Windows, it benefits to run Microsoft Windows in your own home instead of Apple?s Mac Os X because it would be more difficult to operate something that one is not familiar with.
Since its creation Microsoft has made a great impact on the software business. Gates made computer software for many companies including Apple and later for himself, known as Windows which he was sued by Steve jobs for. Bill Gates has continued to give to the tech industry through the years and Windows is one of the most popular Operating System. Before Windows came about however, there was MS-DOS . Gates and Paul Allen were asked by IBM to create an Operating System for their new creation, the PC (Personal Computer). In 1982 the pc was released and took the world by storm with IBM leading the pack. Computers today still are being advances, from being able to display only lines of text to today’s PC’s running complex games that look as real as life.
Microsoft was originally created in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They first introduced their software package, Window 1.0 in 1983, the first package to consist of a mouse which helps navigate a PC. MS-DOS commands were previously used to operate computer systems, however people found these extremely hard to understand. This Windows 1.0 package was a key turning point in Microsoft emergence. As time progressed Microsoft created updated versions which consisted of advanced graphics, built-in internet support, dial-up networking and much more (Microsoft, 2011). Windows packages started from Window 1.0 to the current version whic...
Initially Lotus did not write a version of 1-2-3 for Windows because they did not want to help Microsoft build their contribution margin and attain market acceptance. However, over time Lotus could not ignore the growing success of Microsoft so they eventually rushed a flawed a version of 1-2-3 for Windows to market in 1991. The release of the product caused Lotus great embarrassment, because they reacted to the situation instead pf being proactive in the beginning they made a decision and introduced a product that was not ready for market.
Recent data shows that 78% of computer users use Microsoft Windows as their primary operating system. Microsoft has also just released a new operating system known as Vista that competes primarily with Apple’s Mac OSX.
...e the graphic interface while showing text and pictures. Unlike MS-DOS the text would only appear as coding. The new graphic interface used software called VisiCorp which was easier to use. Two years before the creation of Windows Bill gave an announcement saying they made an operating system called Windows which would be compatible with all computers. The announcement was a total lie, since Microsoft had no software under advancement. Windows looked very similar to Macintosh that Apple had made two years before. Apple had given Microsoft complete access to their technology while Microsoft was working on software that would run on Macintosh computers. Bill advised Apple to authorize their software but they ignored Bill since all they wanted to do is sell the computers. Bill took full advantage of the problem and created software extremely similar to the Macintosh.
The Longhorn development cycle had begun in May 2001 according to Peter Galli (et.al.), and was expected to fill the gap between Windows XP and the more robust operating system code named "Vienna" within Microsoft. In what was a tumultuous period of Microsoft's development, in 2003 Robert Allchin, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer decided to stop development of the existing Longhorn operating system and revert to use the existing Windows Server 2003 code base as the foundation for Windows Vista. What forced these three Microsoft executives to scrap development of the existing development of Longhorn and begin over was the inclusion of a completely different software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle, reducing the number of security-related errors in coding by as much as 50% to 60% according to Michael Howard (ET.AL.) writing in MSDN Magazine. The re-write of an entire operating system in the new development methodology completed changed the development processes within Microsoft as well. It took literally a year for the pace of coding to approach the efficiency levels of Longhorn prior to the decision being made.
In 1953 it was estimated that there were 100 computers in the world. Computers built between 1959 and 1964 are often regarded as the "second generation" computers, based on transistors and printed circuits - resulting in much smaller computers. 1964 the programming language PL/1 released by IBM. 1964 the launch of IBM 360. These first series of compatible computers. In 1970 Intel introduced the first RAM chip. In 1975 IBM 5100 was released. In 1976 the Apple Computer Inc. was founded, to market Apple I Computer. Designed to Stephen Wozinak and Stephan Jobs. In 1979 the first compact disk was released around 1981 IBM announced PC, the standard model was sold for $2,880.00.
Thousands of years ago calculations were done using people’s fingers and pebbles that were found just lying around. Technology has transformed so much that today the most complicated computations are done within seconds. Human dependency on computers is increasing everyday. Just think how hard it would be to live a week without a computer. We owe the advancements of computers and other such electronic devices to the intelligence of men of the past.