Magid: Microsoft Turns 50

Fifty years ago, on April 4, 1976, Bill Gates and the late Paul Allen founded Microsoft. A half century later, it’s one of the world’s most valuable companies. And even though it’s based in Redmond, Washinton, it has a strong Silicon Valley presence.

The first PC

Its first product, released that July, was a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair computer. The Altair was generally recognized as the first personal computer.  It didn’t even have a keyboard or display. Users interacted with it by flipping switches on the front panel.

Even though that early PC was very unfriendly by today’s standards, it was affordable with a starting price of $439, about $2,700 in today’s dollars. And, as primitive as it was, it inspired Gates and Allen to come up with a slogan and a goal – “A computer on every desk and in every home” – that pretty much eventually came true. Back then I’m not sure the Microsoft founders could have envisioned a computer in nearly everyone’s pocket, which is the case with today’s smartphones.

I first became a Microsoft customer in 1980. My first computer, an Apple II, came with Applesoft BASIC, a programming language that the company licensed to Apple in 1977. I used it to write a simple program that turned my Apple II into a smart key punch machine, which I then uploaded to my university’s mainframe, saving me countless hours entering data for my doctoral dissertation research. I later purchased a Microsoft Z-80 card so I could run the CP/M operating system on my Apple II to take advantage of programs like WordStar, which, at the time, only ran on CP/M.

Early in 1981, as I was writing the manual for IBM’s first PC word processing program, I used a pre-release copy of what later became PC-DOS, the operating system for what was to become the IBM PC. Microsoft, which was smart enough to negotiate a non-exclusive agreement with IBM, later launched a derivative called MS-DOS, which was the underlying software for of IBM compatible PCs. By the mid-80s, there were scores of PC companies, but, with the exception of Apple and some niche products, Microsoft had the only PC operating system.

These days I still use Microsoft software, not only on my Windows PC but also Microsoft Office on my Mac along with an array of Microsoft smartphone apps for iOS and Android. My preferred browser, Microsoft Edge, runs on all my devices.

Adapting to change

Although most of the early PC companies are long gone, Microsoft has survived and thrived because it has been able to adapt to changes in technology and business. Microsoft Windows, introduced 40 years ago, continues to be the dominant personal computer interface and Microsoft Office, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other programs, continues to do very well on PCs, Macs and smartphones. But the company is also a major player in cloud computing, while its Xbox is a major gaming platform. Even though few people associate Microsoft with social media, it owns LinkedIn, a very popular professional networking platform. It’s also a major player in generative AI with its Copilot AI companion and a major investment and partnership with ChatGPT creator, OpenAI. Microsoft also partners with Meta on Llama 2 open-source AI software for Azure and Windows

Failures and Fixes

Innovation almost always includes failures. In 1995 it introduced Microsoft Bob, a user interface designed to make PCs more user friendly. It was cartoonish and widely ridiculed, and I was one of the journalists who gave it a mostly negative review, but some of its design elements are now present in many of today’s smartphone apps. You can read my review from 30 years ago at larrysworld.com/bob.

The company tried and failed to compete with Apple and Google in smartphones with its 2010 launch of Windows Phone. It never gained traction so, in 2017, they stopped developing for it and focused instead on apps for iOS and Android. Not all versions of Windows have been well received. Vista, which came out in 2007 was replaced by Windows 7 only two years later. It was an ambitious upgrade from Windows XP but had performance issues and compatibility problems with some applications and devices.

For years some Mac enthusiasts would brag about how their machines were faster and less crash-prone than Windows PC, but especially with Windows 10 and 11, Microsoft has refined its PC operating system so that it’s extremely reliable and stable. The company has had some hardware successes, including mice, keyboards, Surface Laptops and Xbox game consoles.

Mountain View campus

Although it’s based in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft has offices around the world, including its large Silicon Valley facility in Mountain View, not far from Google headquarters.

I recently had a chance to visit this state-of-the-art facility that houses The Garage, which was never a place to park cars, but a lab where employees can tinker with ideas and collaborate with colleagues. The Garage has a “Wall of Fame” that features hacks that turned into important products, such Eye Control for Windows that empowers people with disabilities to operate an onscreen mouse, keyboard, and text-to-speech experience using only their eyes.

Linda Thackery, who’s been at Microsoft for 27 years, is Senior Director of The Garage, North America and Europe. She said The Garage is open to employees 24/7, who are welcome to work on anything they’re passionate about, regardless of whether it’s likely to ever become a product. With a mix of machines ranging from sewing machines to 3-D printers and plenty of high and low-tech tools and materials, employees have the gear they need to build their dream projects. In addition to Mountain View, there are “garages” in Redmond, Washington, Vancouver, Atlanta, Reston/DC, New England, New York City, Dublin, Israel, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, East Africa, West Africa, and Beijing.

Although this metaphorical garage is in a modern office building, Microsoft, Apple, Google, HP and Amazon can all trace their roots to real garages,

Working on established and new products

Shawn Villaron, VP and General Manager in Microsoft’s Office Product Group started as a Microsoft intern in 1994 and has been working at the Mountain View campus since it was opened in 1999. He said the campus is home to “teams that are reinventing very established products, but also teams that are incubating incredibly new products” in areas such as cloud computing, hardware and artificial intelligence, as well as PowerPoint and other consumer products. Being in Silicon Valley with “high quality university systems in our backyard, incredible concentration of AI talent, vibrant startups and venture capital communities,” has allowed his team to “punch above its weight class,” which is saying a lot considering that Microsoft is already a heavy weight with the second highest market capitalization ($3.84 trillion) of any company.

Although the campus dates back to 1999, the company completed a major renovation in 2022 with a 645,000 square foot building that houses 2,000 employees complete with recreational and dining facilities and an employee lounge area that reminds me of a luxury hotel lobby. It’s a gorgeous and highly energy efficient building made of Cross Laminated Timber.  The grounds feature native plants, and the roof garden offers a beautiful view of surrounding landscape and, perhaps to remind employees that their part of an eco-system, Google’s innovative Bay View campus and NASA Ames Research Center

If Microsoft were a person, it would be getting pitches from AARP. But like many of today’s 50+ year-olds, it’s still vibrant, still learning and interested in exploration and growth.

Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.