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The history of computer development
History Of Computer Development
The history of computer development
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Computers have come a long way in the last 40 years. From the room-filling machines of the 60's to the relatively tiny, sleek ATX form factor.
The main reason for this achievement to be possible is the advent of the microprocessor made by IBM. This company had revolutionized the world of personal computer and fabricated the groundwork for the modern day PC.
In the late 70’s, IBM was looking for someone to program an operating system for the revolutionary PC. They looked to one man by the name of Bill Gates who was starting up his own software company after dropping out of Harvard Law.
Gates was always a whiz with computers so starting his own software company was a breeze for him and partner Paul Allen. While in high school, Gates made a program that would set him up to take all the classes with pretty girls and another program to set the seating charts in the room to maximize each class to have him not only in the same room, but in close proximity.
Gates and affiliates at Microsoft accepted the challenge of creating an operating system for IBM’s PC. They came up with MS-DOS, or Microsoft-Disk Operating System. IBM loved it and it was implemented on every new PC that IBM made.
Years passed and innovations to operating systems kept climbing. By the late 80’s, Microsoft had created many different versions of MS-DOS with each improving on the latter. Then, in spring of '89 they had unveiled Microsoft Windows. A graphical interface incorporated a mouse and appealing looks. At first Windows was not widely accepted, but after trial and error with versions to follow, Microsoft gained enough support to mass implement the system worldwide.
By 1995, Microsoft hit yet another benchmark when it introduced Microsoft Windows 95. This operating system had more features and better compatibility, but was a little shaky on reliability. Microsoft's response to that was their Windows 98 which turned into the same story.
After having helped found what would be the world’s most popular and largest software company in 1975, Bill Gates officially found himself to be the richest man alive at the ripe, young age of only thirty-one. Gates had never imagined that the thirteen year old boy who loved to program computers in his parent’s garage would one day find himself to be considered the world’s wealthiest man alive, having a total net worth of $76 billion. Having began on his own, tinkering with computers and computer software, Gates later created the seed of Microsoft, or what was originally called Traf-O-Data in the summer of 1972. (Fast Facts) It wasn’t until two years later, with the help of his co-founder, Paul Allen that Microsoft was born, transforming the technological world in ways that the people had never seen. The birth of Microsoft changed the ways of old computers, making way for faster newer and more innovative technology, along with bringing on a strong competition with their rival company, Apple Inc. With this grand cooperation, Bill Gates was also accumulating a large mass of money, gradually finding himself to top the charts of the Forbes World Billionaires List. (Fast Facts) Despite being well known for his contributions to Microsoft, Bill Gates’ most profound impact on the American culture was in medical and educational advances provided by The Gates foundation, paralleled by his philanthropic views and aid in the lives of the both poor and wealthy.
Microsoft is an American company that was founded by William Henry Gates III, as known as Bill Gates, and his his high school friend Paul Gardner Allen in 1975 April 4. But unluckily, Paul Allen resigned from Microsoft in 1983 after developing Hodgkin’s disease. In 1985 October 20, Microsoft released Microsoft window. It is the first original operating system. It is a graphical extension for MS-DOS. Even though, it’s not handy like nowadays Microsoft window. Then in 1990, Microsoft introduced Microsoft office, which is a bundle office productivity application with Microsoft Word and Microsoft excel. The Microsoft Word was the first application that could display italics. And the Microsoft Office would be available for free for all the PC World’s computer that is produce on that same year in November. In the 2000 February 17, Microsoft released Window 2000 operating system, and according to Microsoft it is the most safe operating system in the world at that time. But still, there are so many problems and glitches need to be fixed. Besides there are mutable computer viruses are made specially to attack Window 2000. Rush to gain back the sales. In the 2001 October 25 Window xp is available. The new operating system fix most of the problem. Although some of the user were still complaining the system that it will take your information, but in the 2007 January, there are 76% of people in the entire world are using the operating system.
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.
This was the same year when Bill Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft. In 1981, Bill Gates’ company was hired to develop an operating system but rather than creating a new operating system they decided to buy a preexisting operation system called QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) for the amount of 50,000 dollars. After modifying the operating system they bought, they renamed the operating system to MS-DOS. After MS-DOS began selling it brought in a steady income for Gates due to the fact that the PC market was growing and there weren’t many competitors in the market for them to compete with. In 1986, when Microsoft Corporation went public, it made Gates into a millionaire overnight. The following year, Microsoft released their first ever version of
When Bill Gates was a child, he read many books in his free time like encyclopedias. When he turned thirteen, he went to a private school called Seattle’s Lakeside School. When he went there, he got good grades and showed an interest in computer programming. He also met a lifelong friend: Paul Allen. They were not very alike but they spent most of their free time together. They did many things together including getting into trouble. They were both suspended for using computer glitches they knew of to get free computer time. When he was tested with the college SAT test, he made a 1590 out of 1600. Presently, Bill Gates is a fifty-eight year old man with grey hair and glasses.
to replace the IBM machine. In the 1960s and the 1970s IBM came out quickly and built a
After completing their second year of college Gates and Allen had decided to make their own software company. They started out with Micro-Soft as the first name of the company but later took the hyphen. Gates had soon went back to school at harvard however he dropped out in 1977 before he graduated. On his time out he soon devoted himself to Microsoft and made it his full-time Job. This would help him find the problems and fix them. It would make the company a lot stronger and better. “In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, two young computer hobbyists from Palo Alto, California, unveiled the prototype for the Apple 1 computer. A local computer dealer saw the Apple 1 and ordered 100 pre-assembled units. Over the next 10 months, about 200 Apple 1’s were sold.” (Musolf).
Microsoft was able in the OS segment to double their revenue per PC when Windows 3.x emerged which still needed MS-DOS to run. Most of the sales Microsoft made were to OEMs who would take the additional step of installing Windows on a computer’s hard drive. This strategy was effective in that the cost of production was relatively low, as an OEM may only need a single master copy to do the installation. The costs to Microsoft would largely be bore in R&D expense rather than production. As part of the Microsoft business model for this segment, Microsoft designed their OS to need periodic upgrades. The upgrades did come at a cost, and in essence, Microsoft was able to create an “annuity” stream for the Microsoft OS segment. In this segment, Microsoft had a monopolistic structure that allowed them to realize huge returns, especially during such a period of technological growth and rapid obsol...
He had helped IBM with an operating system for their new personal computer coming out soon. “In order to meet the IBM deadline, Gates paid $50,000 for the rights to a rudimentary operating system called "Q-DOS" ("quick and dirty operating system") designed by a Seattle programmer. Gates and his team made some adjustments to the system and added some new features, renaming the result MS-DOS (after Microsoft)”(McGuire 1). Bill Gates had made his first operating system which was the kickstart to his new company called Microsoft. One problem he went through was when his amazing success brought him to court.
It all began in 1991, during the time of monumental computing development. DOS had been bought from a Seattle hacker by Bill Gates, for a sum of $50,000 – a small price for an operating system that had managed sneak its way across the globe due to a clever marketing strategy. Apple’s OS and UNIX were both available, though the cost of running either was far greater than that of running DOS. Enter MINIX, an operating system developed from the ground up by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, a college professor. MINIX was part of a lesson plan used to teach students the inner-workings of an operating system. Tanenbaum had written a book on MINIX called “Operating System” and anyone who had picked up a copy would find the 12,000 lines of code that comprised MINIX itself. This was a big issue; due to the fact that all know (well published) operating systems to that point had been well guarded by software developers, thus making it difficult for people to truly expand on operating system mechanics.
Microsoft has always been known as a software company, and not well known for its hardware. In fact, the only hardware that Microsoft sells to the retail market is branded peripherals. In its heyday, Microsoft was a market leader, bring an operating system to the masses, and leading in internet search. In recent years, however, most of the moves that Microsoft has made have not been in a market leader position, but have been in response to competitors threatening Microsoft’s positions.
Gates suggested that IBM “license it and charge a fee for the software” (Bill. Biography). Over the next three years, everything “exploded” and the stock price shot up. Gates and Allen incorporated Microsoft, with Gates as president and Chairman” (Bill. Biography). Microsoft was eventually “running thirty percent of the world’s software”. The IBM deal was possibly the biggest event in the history of Microsoft.
In order to retain the rights to PC-DOS, Bill Gates talked IBM into allowing him to separate the sale of the operating system from the computer. This separation of software and hardware helped allow him to create MS-DOS and the global dynasty he now holds today (Bellis).
Microsoft, from its inception, has been known for its software, especially its Windows platform. It has changed the way we operate computers and through its software, has made the computer user-friendly and very efficient. Microsoft, however, does not want to only specialize in the software department. They have thus expanded their excellence in other departments such as gaming, music and hardware.
The history of computers is an amazing story filled with interesting statistics. “The first computer was invented by a man named Konrad Zuse. He was a German construction engineer, and he used the machine mainly for mathematic calculations and repetition” (Bellis, Inventors of Modern Computer). The invention shocked the world; it inspired people to start the development of computers. Soon after,