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Happy Birthday Microsoft: 5 Fun Facts About The Software Giant's Founding
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On this day in 1975, the fate of the technology industry was forever changed as long-time friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , a once-modest software business that rose to become one of the most important and innovative companies in the world.
The remarkable story of this tech pioneer begins with another important innovator, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), a former calculator company that begin developing computers in the mid-70s.
MITS produced the first commercially successful home computer, the Altair 8800. After Gates and Allen saw the computer featured on the cover of Popular Electronics, the pair began writing software for the device and eventually moved to New Mexico to work for the company.
It was here that Gates and Allen would found Microsoft. By the end of 1978, their young company was doing more than $1 million in revenue. In 1979, Microsoft moved from New Mexico to Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle where the founders grew up.
A couple of years later, Microsoft would pave the way for its domination of the operating system market by purchasing the rights to what would later become MS-DOS. Over the years, the company would develop its other infamous programs, including Word, Excel, and Windows.
The rest, as they say, is history. Microsoft remains a massive tech giant, and Gates and Allen remain two of the wealthiest people on the planet. Of course, this summary is short on some of the more fun details. Everyone likes the fun details.
In celebration of its 42nd birthday, check out these five fun facts about the early days of Microsoft:
1. Microsoft was not the founders’ first company
Gates and Allen met in high school and quickly bonded over a love for computers. The friends were able to use their school’s computers for free, which led to the creation of their first business partnership, “Traf-O-Data,” a project focused on the efficient creation of vehicle traffic flow charts.
At the time, traffic patterns were measured mechanically. Rubber hoses were laid along roads, and as cars passed over them, a small burst of air triggered a measuring device. This data was then recorded on paper tape. Gates and Allen thought they could do better. The young friends eventually designed a program and a compatible piece of hardware to create traffic charts.
2. It started with a white lie
Well before Bill Gates earned his reputation for being a generous philanthropist, he was apparently a bit of a fibber. Shortly after reading about the Altair 8800, a 20-year-old Gates called MITS and claimed to have a working BASIC interpreter for the computer. Gates and Allen had no such interpreter. In fact, the pair didn’t even own an Altair 8800.
In what could have been an attempt to call their bluff, MITS requested a demonstration of the interpreter. Allen began working on a simulator for the Altair 8800, while Gates worked on the program. The founders pulled it off, successfully demonstrating the interpreter on a real Altair 8800 a few months later.
3. There used to be a hyphen
Although the hyphen didn’t last long, Microsoft was originally called “Micro-Soft.” Allen is credited with coming up with the name, which is a combination of the words “microcomputer” and “software.”
In a 1995 interview with Fortune, the founders revealed that Microsoft felt like the “totally obvious” name, but they did toy around with other names like “Outcorporated Inc,” “Unlimited Ltd,” and even “Allen & Gates.”
4. Its headquarters had humble beginnings
Today, Microsoft’s corporate headquarters is located at One Microsoft Way in Redmond, Washington. The multi-billion dollar campus includes a shopping mall, a soccer field, and shuttle-bus service to nearby neighborhoods. Microsoft’s first offices were a bit less flashy.
“Next door was a vacuum-cleaner place, then a massage parlor. To get to our offices, you had to walk past the vacuum-cleaner guy. We stayed in this motel down the road called the Sand and Sage,” Gates told Fortune.
5. Gates and Allen almost ran out of cash… thanks to pirates.
Ok fine, I’m talking about software pirates, not the sea-based swashbuckling kind. In the very early days of Microsoft, when Gates and Allen were still working with MITS, the two almost ran completely out of money because of how many people were stealing their BASIC program.
According to the founders, their original contract with MITS was structured so that MITS was responsible for selling the BASIC program to their customers. When pirated copies of Gates and Allen’s BASIC began floating around, MITS figured it was a waste of time to try to sell it. After a months-long legal battle, an arbitrator eventually sided with the Microsoft founders.
Bottom Line
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Microsoft. The company’s incredible history fits the extraordinary impact it has had on the world, and it is fascinating to look back on the earliest days of what is now a tech powerhouse.
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Happy Birthday Microsoft: 5 Fun Facts About The Software Giant's Founding
On this day in 1975, the fate of the technology industry was forever changed as long-time friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , a once-modest software business that rose to become one of the most important and innovative companies in the world.
The remarkable story of this tech pioneer begins with another important innovator, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), a former calculator company that begin developing computers in the mid-70s.
MITS produced the first commercially successful home computer, the Altair 8800. After Gates and Allen saw the computer featured on the cover of Popular Electronics, the pair began writing software for the device and eventually moved to New Mexico to work for the company.
It was here that Gates and Allen would found Microsoft. By the end of 1978, their young company was doing more than $1 million in revenue. In 1979, Microsoft moved from New Mexico to Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle where the founders grew up.
A couple of years later, Microsoft would pave the way for its domination of the operating system market by purchasing the rights to what would later become MS-DOS. Over the years, the company would develop its other infamous programs, including Word, Excel, and Windows.
The rest, as they say, is history. Microsoft remains a massive tech giant, and Gates and Allen remain two of the wealthiest people on the planet. Of course, this summary is short on some of the more fun details. Everyone likes the fun details.
In celebration of its 42nd birthday, check out these five fun facts about the early days of Microsoft:
1. Microsoft was not the founders’ first company
Gates and Allen met in high school and quickly bonded over a love for computers. The friends were able to use their school’s computers for free, which led to the creation of their first business partnership, “Traf-O-Data,” a project focused on the efficient creation of vehicle traffic flow charts.
At the time, traffic patterns were measured mechanically. Rubber hoses were laid along roads, and as cars passed over them, a small burst of air triggered a measuring device. This data was then recorded on paper tape. Gates and Allen thought they could do better. The young friends eventually designed a program and a compatible piece of hardware to create traffic charts.
2. It started with a white lie
Well before Bill Gates earned his reputation for being a generous philanthropist, he was apparently a bit of a fibber. Shortly after reading about the Altair 8800, a 20-year-old Gates called MITS and claimed to have a working BASIC interpreter for the computer. Gates and Allen had no such interpreter. In fact, the pair didn’t even own an Altair 8800.
In what could have been an attempt to call their bluff, MITS requested a demonstration of the interpreter. Allen began working on a simulator for the Altair 8800, while Gates worked on the program. The founders pulled it off, successfully demonstrating the interpreter on a real Altair 8800 a few months later.
3. There used to be a hyphen
Although the hyphen didn’t last long, Microsoft was originally called “Micro-Soft.” Allen is credited with coming up with the name, which is a combination of the words “microcomputer” and “software.”
In a 1995 interview with Fortune, the founders revealed that Microsoft felt like the “totally obvious” name, but they did toy around with other names like “Outcorporated Inc,” “Unlimited Ltd,” and even “Allen & Gates.”
4. Its headquarters had humble beginnings
Today, Microsoft’s corporate headquarters is located at One Microsoft Way in Redmond, Washington. The multi-billion dollar campus includes a shopping mall, a soccer field, and shuttle-bus service to nearby neighborhoods. Microsoft’s first offices were a bit less flashy.
“Next door was a vacuum-cleaner place, then a massage parlor. To get to our offices, you had to walk past the vacuum-cleaner guy. We stayed in this motel down the road called the Sand and Sage,” Gates told Fortune.
5. Gates and Allen almost ran out of cash… thanks to pirates.
Ok fine, I’m talking about software pirates, not the sea-based swashbuckling kind. In the very early days of Microsoft, when Gates and Allen were still working with MITS, the two almost ran completely out of money because of how many people were stealing their BASIC program.
According to the founders, their original contract with MITS was structured so that MITS was responsible for selling the BASIC program to their customers. When pirated copies of Gates and Allen’s BASIC began floating around, MITS figured it was a waste of time to try to sell it. After a months-long legal battle, an arbitrator eventually sided with the Microsoft founders.
Bottom Line
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Microsoft. The company’s incredible history fits the extraordinary impact it has had on the world, and it is fascinating to look back on the earliest days of what is now a tech powerhouse.
Which Stocks are Zacks Experts Talking About?
Stocks in today's headlines may be tempting buys, but how would you like a sneak peek at the stocks Zacks experts recommend? Starting today, for the next month, you can follow all of Zacks' private buys and sells in real time. You can track value and momentum stocks, ETFs, stocks under $10, options moves, insider trades, and stocks set to report positive earnings surprises (we've called them with 80%+ accuracy). Click here for all Zacks trades >>