Microsoft’s 50th & Billionaire Childhood Friends
- (AP) — Fifty years ago today, April 4, 1975, a company called Micro-Soft was founded in Albuquerque, N.M.by two childhood friends and programmers.
- The driving forces behind Microsoft were Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
- The school's access to a PDP-10 mainframe, owned by Computer Centre Corporation (CCC), proved pivotal.Gates and his associates were temporarily banned from the terminal for exploiting operating system...
Microsoft’s Humble Beginnings: From Albuquerque to Global Tech Giant
Table of Contents
- Microsoft’s Humble Beginnings: From Albuquerque to Global Tech Giant
- Microsoft’s Humble Beginnings: A Q&A
- What was the original name of Microsoft, and when was it founded?
- Where was Microsoft founded?
- Who were the founders of Microsoft?
- How did Bill Gates and Paul Allen get started with computers?
- What was Bill Gates’ first experience with programming?
- What role did the PDP-10 mainframe play in Gates and Allen’s early experiences?
- What was Traf-o-Data?
- Did Bill Gates and Paul allen go to college?
- How did the Altair 8800 influence the creation of Microsoft?
- What was Altair BASIC?
- What were some of microsoft’s early products?
- What was Microsoft’s breakthrough product?
- Summary: Key Milestones in Microsoft’s Early History
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Fifty years ago today, April 4, 1975, a company called Micro-Soft was founded in Albuquerque, N.M.by two childhood friends and programmers. While the company would later become synonymous with Windows, Office, and Xbox, its initial ambitions were far more modest than building a global enterprise employing hundreds of thousands.
The Founders: Gates and Allen
The driving forces behind Microsoft were Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Both were introduced to computers in the 1960s. They attended Lakeside, a private school where they, along with friends Ric Weiland and Kent Evans, formed a programming club. In an era before personal computers, the school provided terminals for remote access to mainframe computers. Gates, at age 13, utilized this access to create a version of the game Gomoku in BASIC, playable against the computer.
The school’s access to a PDP-10 mainframe, owned by Computer Centre Corporation (CCC), proved pivotal.Gates and his associates were temporarily banned from the terminal for exploiting operating system errors to gain unauthorized access. However, they later struck a deal with CCC: in exchange for identifying and reporting errors, they would be granted access to the PDP-10. This experience, according to some accounts, sparked Gates’ entrepreneurial spirit.
Gates and Evans then developed a school scheduling system for compensation. Following Evans’ tragic death in a climbing accident, Allen assisted in completing the project. In 1972, Gates, then 17, and Allen, two years older, co-founded their first business, Traf-o-Data. The company aimed to automate traffic counting,providing transportation engineers and planners with data on traffic volume. While they developed functional software, they lacked the capacity to mass-produce the necessary hardware.
Leaving Academia behind
Both Gates and Allen pursued higher education. Allen attended washington State University before leaving after two years to work as a programmer for Honeywell. Gates enrolled at Harvard University but dropped out after Allen convinced him to focus on launching their new company.
In January 1975, Allen read an article in *Popular Electronics* magazine about the Altair 8800, a low-cost personal microcomputer built around the Intel 8080 chip. He persuaded Gates to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair. By march 1975, they had a working version, despite not having access to an actual Altair machine. Allen created a computer simulator, while Gates developed the interpreter. The result was Altair BASIC, which MITS distributed, providing the two friends with a steady income.
The formal business plan was finalized, and on April 4, 1975, Micro-Soft (a portmanteau of Micro-Computing Software) was officially established. Gates served as its CEO for nearly 30 years. While Altair BASIC was a crucial early product, another significant product was Xenix (1980), a version of the unix operating system. Though, the company’s breakthrough came in 1981 with MS-DOS for the newly launched IBM PC.
Microsoft’s Humble Beginnings: A Q&A
What was the original name of Microsoft, and when was it founded?
Micro-Soft, a portmanteau of “Micro-Computing Software,” was officially established on April 4, 1975.
Where was Microsoft founded?
Microsoft was founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Who were the founders of Microsoft?
Bill Gates and Paul Allen were the driving forces behind Microsoft. They were childhood friends and programmers.
How did Bill Gates and Paul Allen get started with computers?
Both gates and Allen were introduced to computers in the 1960s at Lakeside, a private school. They were part of a programming club at the school. They had access to a mainframe computer through terminals, even at a time before personal computers existed.
What was Bill Gates’ first experience with programming?
At age 13,gates used the school’s computer access to create a version of the game Gomoku in BASIC.
What role did the PDP-10 mainframe play in Gates and Allen’s early experiences?
The school’s access to a PDP-10 mainframe, owned by Computer Center Corporation (CCC), proved pivotal to Gates and allen. They were temporarily banned from the terminal for exploiting operating system errors. They later struck a deal with CCC, identifying and reporting errors in exchange for continued access. This experience sparked Gates’ entrepreneurial spirit.
What was Traf-o-Data?
Gates and Allen’s first business, Traf-o-Data, co-founded in 1972, aimed to automate traffic counting. They developed software to provide transportation engineers and planners with data on traffic volume. However, they lacked the capacity to mass-produce the necessary hardware.
Did Bill Gates and Paul allen go to college?
Yes,both of them pursued higher education. Allen attended Washington State University before dropping out. Gates enrolled at Harvard University but also dropped out.
How did the Altair 8800 influence the creation of Microsoft?
In January 1975, Allen read an article in *Popular Electronics* magazine about the Altair 8800, a low-cost personal microcomputer.He persuaded gates to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair.
What was Altair BASIC?
By March 1975, Gates and Allen had a working version of Altair BASIC, even without having an actual Altair machine. Allen created a computer simulator, while Gates developed the interpreter. MITS distributed Altair BASIC,providing Gates and Allen with a steady income.
What were some of microsoft’s early products?
While Altair BASIC was a crucial early product, other early products include Xenix (1980), a version of the Unix operating system.
What was Microsoft’s breakthrough product?
Microsoft’s breakthrough came in 1981 with MS-DOS for the newly launched IBM PC.
Summary: Key Milestones in Microsoft’s Early History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1972 | Gates and allen co-found Traf-o-Data. |
| January 1975 | Allen reads about the Altair 8800. |
| March 1975 | Gates and Allen have a working version of altair BASIC. |
| April 4, 1975 | Micro-Soft officially established. |
| 1980 | Release of Xenix. |
| 1981 | MS-DOS released for the IBM PC. |