A Brief History of Microsoft - PDFCOFFEE.COM (2023)

A Brief History of Microsoft Company Microsoft is an American multinational computer technology corporation whose history started 4th April 1975. Formed by Harvard College dropout, Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen, Microsoft has now become the biggest software company. It is also one of the most valuable companies in the world. So how did Microsoft become so successful? Microsoft is engaged in developing, licensing and supporting a range of software products and services catering to different requirements. In 2000 Steve Ballmer was appointed the new CEO of Microsoft. Bill Gates had met Steve Ballmer at Harvard University before he left. Although there was some concern over Ballmer’s ability, Microsoft retained its top spot in both business and personal computer markets. Microsoft’s primary strengths and most of its profits were obtained from the business side. Although the company recognised that they had a major presence in consumer markets as technology advances. The successful Altair deal back in January 1975 inspired Bill Gates and Paul Allen to form Microsoft. Their revenues for 1975 totalled $16,000. Microsoft’s big break was in 1980, when a partnership was formed with IBM which resulted in Microsoft providing a crucial operating system, DOS, for IBM PCs. This meant that for every IBM Computer sold a royalty was paid to Microsoft. In 1990, Gates showed the future plan for Microsoft with the introduction of Windows 3.0. 60 million copies of Windows had been sold now which effectively made Microsoft the sole keeper of the PC software standard. Microsoft before 1990 was predominantly a supplier to the hardware manufacturers. That was their target market. As technology advanced and personal computers become so popular, the bulk of Microsoft’s revenue was generated from sales to consumers. It was the first software company to reach $1 Billion in revenues. As more and more versions of Microsoft Windows were launched, Microsoft captured a higher market share the world’s PC (around 90%). Project Longhorn in 2001, saw many of Microsoft’s previous operating systems being replaced starting with Vista. Vista was released to the general public in 2007 and it was the new operating system. There was many Vista options available catering for different consumers; Home (Basic or Premium), Ultimate, Business and many more. Microsoft’s core customers, the corporate market preferred Windows XP as the operating system was fast, stable and secure. Windows 7 was released in 2009 to replace Vista which secured Microsoft’s lead in the software market. This was followed by the release of Windows 8 in Oct 2012 which included major changes to its OS platform and user interface to improve user experience on tablets. Since then Windows 8.1 has been released (October 2013) which contained more improvements.

Microsoft also entered the gaming and mobile phone market and was successful in capturing a large market share. The Windows Mobile OS is used by numerous sellers including HTC, LG, Samsung and LG. In 2001 Microsoft released the Xbox followed by Xbox Live in 2002. Both releases were very successful which placed Microsoft second in the video gaming market. The Xbox 360, released in 2005 was a very powerful gaming console while facing strong competition. Microsoft had to cut the prices of their gaming consoles to gain a higher market share due to competition. This was a successful move; the Xbox 360 was the most used game console in American homes. Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 Billion; this was the largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history. Microsoft acquired Skype to compete with Apple’s Facetime and Google’s Voice. Microsoft planned to add Skype to its products such as Outlook, Xbox and Windows smartphones. Microsoft has also recently moved into cloud computing with Windows Azure platform which was announced in 2008. The Windows Azure platform lets consumers build computing infrastructure in the “cloud” and offer it to its users. In 2011, Office 365, a cloud version of Office business software suite was released which included applications such as Word and Excel. Another popular product, Microsoft’s SQL Server 2012, featured many enhancements to previous versions. This included Always On which provided options to improve the database availability and easy cloud set up and compatibility. Features also included performance and programmability enhancements. dsp provide support for all versions and features of Microsoft SQL Servers, across a wide variety of windows platforms.

By Jonathan Cowling | Marketing https://www.dsp.co.uk/a-brief-history-of-microsoft-the-worlds-biggest-software-company/

A brief history of Microsoft Office Written by Aaron Axline This month, Microsoft is celebrating the 2 anniversary of the debut of its immensely popular office productivity suite, Microsoft Office. The core programs that made up the first version of Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) existed as separate applications as far back as the early 1980s. It wasn’t until 1989, however, that Microsoft bundled these programs together into the product called Microsoft Office 1.0 (for Macintosh, that is; the first Windows version would follow a year later).

The first version of Microsoft Office, created for Apple's Mac in 1989. Microsoft would eventually drop the article "the" from its product name, similar to how The Pink Floyd eventually became Pink Floyd. When MS Office for Windows was released in 1990, its chief competitors were both industry giants: WordPerfect (for word processing), and Lotus 1-2-3 (for spreadsheets). Both of these products already had dominant market positions when Microsoft Office was launched. Microsoft Office quickly gained on the competition, however — businesses liked the idea of having their primary workstation apps come from a single software company, which hinted at greater integration between critical applications. More to the point, many of these businesses were using PCs

powered by Microsoft Windows (running over MS-DOS), giving Microsoft Office even more perceived integration sparkle. It also helped that Office was friendlier to the growing number of mouse-centric PC users of the early 1990s. The clickability factor made it more appealing than other programs, such as WordPerfect, which were often heavily keyboarddriven.

Companies also liked the idea of dealing with a single software vendor, which provided simpler software licensing and support contracts. This convenient arrangement would generate billions of dollars in Office-related revenue for Microsoft over the next two decades, and would effectively bury Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect and all other comers. Microsoft Office expanded from the original “Big Three” apps as new versions of the suite were released. A basic e-mail client, Microsoft Mail, was added not long after the debut of Office 1.0. Microsoft Access, a simple but powerful database management system, made its debut in 1993 as part of Office Professional 3.0. Other Office apps were developed and added to the Office bundle over the years, or were made available as add-ons: ● Outlook, a beefed up personal information manager and e-mail client ● OneNote, a virtual notebook system ● Publisher, a mid-level desktop publishing app ● Project, a project management program ● Visio, a flowchart and diagram creation app Today, Microsoft Office is reported to have more than a billion users worldwide. Office is available through retail, traditional volume licensing for businesses, and as Software as a Service (SaaS) in the form of Office 365. Microsoft is still actively developing versions of Office for the Mac. And, in March 2014, a version of Office for Apple’s iPad was launched.

Microsoft Office has been a part of Microsoft’s training and certification program for many years. The following sections describe the different certifications available for Microsoft Office applications. Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) The first level of Office certification is the Microsoft Office Specialist. This designation can be earned by passing a single certification exam for any of the following Office programs (applicable product versions appear in parentheses): ● Word (2013; 2010; 2007) ● Excel (2013; 2010; 2007) ● PowerPoint (2013; 2010; 2007) ● Outlook (2013; 2010; 2007) ● Access (2013; 2010; 2007) ● SharePoint (2013; 2010) ● OneNote (2013; 2010) There is also an MOS certification specifically for Office 365, Microsoft’s “Software as a Service” version of Office. MOS: Office 365 is covered by Exam 77-891. Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Expert This advanced certification is only offered for Word and Excel. To earn MOS Expert certification on Word 2013 or Excel 2013, candidates must take and pass two certification exams. The other applicable versions (2010 and 2007) require passing only one exam. Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Master The MOS Master is the most advanced level of Office certification. It is currently offered for the following Office applications (applicable product versions appear in parentheses):

● Word (2013; 2010; 2007) ● Excel (2013; 2010; 2007) ● PowerPoint (2013; 2010; 2007) ● Outlook (2013; 2010; 2007) ● Access (2013; 2010; 2007) ● SharePoint (2013; 2010) ● OneNote (2013) To earn MOS Master certification on Word 2013 or Excel 2013, candidates must take and pass two certification exams. All other applications only require passing one exam to earn MOS Master certification. Retired Microsoft Office Certifications Although the Microsoft Learning website lists two other Office-related certifications, these two designations have officially been retired. These retired certifications are: ● Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) for Office 365 ● Microsoft Certified Information Technology Professional (MCITP) for Office 365 Summary There’s no question that the release of Microsoft Office 25 years ago changed the landscape of business productivity, and eventually gave millions of home users access to powerful software that innovated word processing and spreadsheet use. And, over the last two decades, MOS certification has provided knowledge workers with an industry-recognized accreditation that validates their skills, and gives them an advantage in a competitive job market.

http://www.gocertify.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-microsoft-office

Best free office software 2019: alternatives and competitors Zoho Workplace

A genuinely exciting alternative to Google Docs

Open365

More than just an office suite online

SoftMaker FreeOffice

A free version of a premium suite, with most pro features intact

Polaris Office

A cross-platform office suite that keeps your work in the cloud

WPS Office Free

A feature-packed free office suite for Windows, Linux and Android

Microsoft Office Online

Microsoft is taking the fight to Google with slimmed-down versions of all its usual applications, available to use free online

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

For working across platforms and sharing documents, Google's excellent collection of online office apps is hard to beat

LibreOffice

Everything you could want from an office suite, fully compatible with Microsoft formats and totally free to use – even commercially

https://www.techradar.com/best/free-office-software

The history of Microsoft Word Microsoft Word, known also just as ‘Word’ is word processing software and a flagship product of Microsoft. It is an integral part of the Microsoft Office suite of products and is the most widely-used word processor in the world. In fact, it’s estimated that Word is running on more than a billion devices worldwide. First released in 1983 under a different name, Word celebrated its 25th birthday in 2018. Its popularity lies in its ease of use, plus the fact that it can be used on different operating systems including Macintosh and of course, Windows. Word can be bought as a standalone product or as a part of Microsoft Office, which also includes programs like Excel and PowerPoint. So, just how did Word come to dominate the market during the last 25 years and become the most-used word processing software in the world? And what does the future hold for the product? Rise to popularity The first ever version of Microsoft Word – Word 1.0 – was launched in October 1983 and developed by former Xerox programmers, Charles Simonyi and Richard Brodie. The two were hired by Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, in 1981. At this time, Word was called Multi-Tool Word. It was designed for use on computers that ran the UNIX operating system. Word was a WYSIWYG (‘what you see is what you get’) program. This meant that however a document looked on screen was how it would look once printed. Word let users create, save and print text documents, but it wasn’t an instant success; perhaps because it was competing with the hugely popular WordPerfect and WordStar word processing programs. Version 2.0 was released in 1985, with added features including spellcheck and word count.

Over the following years, Microsoft re-coded the program a number of times so that it could work on different operating systems, including DOS (disk operating system) and Macintosh. The name was also changed to the shorter and more memorable ‘Word’. In 1993, Microsoft released Word 6.0 which worked on Macintosh, Windows and DOS. Word 6.0 was the last version created to run on DOS and the last version to be identified by version number; subsequent versions were named after their year of release. Since then, Microsoft has released a new version of Word at least every two years. The most recent release was at the end of 2018, with Word 2019, part of Office 365. The future of Word Today, Word and the whole Office suite is highly-integrated and runs on OS X, Android and iOS, as well as Windows. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has said that Office is the company’s most important API (application programming interface). The latest version of the software is Word 2019. Like its spreadsheet counterpart, Excel, Word has been given a number of updates to improve its functionality and ensure it keeps up with the changing computing times. Recent new features of Word include:  Translator – Word can now translate words and sentences into other languages using the Microsoft Translator tool, which sits under the Review tab. This function has also been added to Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint.  Learning Tools – this feature helps make your documents easy to comprehend and helps with reading fluency. Use it to change column width for improved focus, page colour so the page can be scanned with less eye strain, and show breaks between syllables to improve word recognition and pronunciation. You can also use this tool to read your document aloud to you.  Digital pen – if you have a touch-enabled device, the latest version of Word (and other Office products) lets you draw

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with your finger, a mouse or a digital pen for easy annotation and note-taking. Icons and SVGs (scalable vector graphics) – Word now has a library of icons and 3D images which can be inserted into documents to make them more visually appealing and to make an impact. Users can change colours and apply effects.

https://core.co.uk/blog/history-microsoft-word/

111 Ctrl+0 Ctrl+A Ctrl+B Ctrl+C Ctrl+D Ctrl+E Ctrl+F Ctrl+I Ctrl+J Ctrl+K Ctrl+L Ctrl+M Ctrl+N Ctrl+O Ctrl+P Ctrl+R Ctrl+S Alt, F, A Ctrl+T Ctrl+U Ctrl+V Ctrl+W Ctrl+X Ctrl+Y Ctrl+Z Ctrl+Shift+L Ctrl+Shift+F Ctrl+Shift+>

Description Toggles 6pts of spacing before a paragraph. Select all contents of the page. Bold highlighted selection. Copy selected text. Open the font preferences window. Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen. Open find box. Italic highlighted selection. Aligns the selected text or line to justify the screen. Insert a hyperlink. Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen. Indent the paragraph. Opens new, blank document window. Opens the dialog box or page for selecting a file to open. Open the print window. Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen. Save the open document. Like Shift+F12. Save the document under a different file name. Create a hanging indent. Underline the selected text. Paste. Close the currently open document. Cut selected text. Redo the last action performed. Undo last action. Quickly create a bullet point. Change the font. Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increase font +2pts.

Ctrl+] Ctrl+Shift+
Increases the selected text size by one font size.

Ctrl+Shift+< Ctrl+Shift+F6 Ctrl+Shift+F12 F1 F4 F5 F7 F12 Shift+F3

Shift+F7 Shift+F12 Shift+Enter Shift+Insert Shift+Alt+D Shift+Alt+T

Decreases the selected text size by one font size. Switches to another open Microsoft Word document. Prints the document. Open help. Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+). Open the Find, Replace, and Go To window in Microsoft Word. Spellcheck and grammar check selected text or document. Save As. Change the text in Microsoft Word from uppercase to lowercase or a capital letter at the beginning of every word. Runs a Thesaurus check on the selected word. Save the open document. Like Ctrl+S. Create a soft break instead of a new paragraph. Paste. Insert the current date. Insert the current time.

https://www.computerhope.com/shortcut/word.htm