12 pictures Look at the 40 years Microsoft has gone through

At the end of last week (April 4), Microsoft quietly ushered in its 40-year-old birthday. As one of the world's most well-known technology companies, Microsoft has left us too many memories. It shapes the PC industry, participates in the wave of the internet, and is struggling to embrace the cloud and mobile era. 12 pictures take you to see Microsoft this 40 years.

1. Microsoft was born

(Paul Allen and Bill Gates)

April 4, 1975, 19-year-old Bill Gates and high School alumni Paul Allen in a hotel room in Albuquerque to create a Microsoft company. The company was originally "Micro-soft" and then changed to "Microsoft".

2.ms-dos

Ms-doc full Name "Microsoft Disk Operating System", is the most famous Microsoft DOS operating system family. In 1981, Microsoft successfully made Ms-doc the most commonly used operating system for IBM PCs and compatible computers. This has laid an early foundation for Microsoft to eventually become the world's leading provider of PC operating systems.

3.Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is following MS-DOS, a series of operating systems introduced by Microsoft. The 1985 1.0 version was born, but did not succeed. Microsoft launched the Windows 3.0 in 1990 and red, thus starting Microsoft's monopoly on the operating system. However, in 1994, Apple sued Microsoft for infringement, triggering the famous "look and feel" lawsuit.

4.Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is the Office software suite developed by Microsoft in 1989. Originally, Office was not running on the Windows platform, but on Apple's Macintosh platform. Microsoft Office 3.0, launched in 1993, became the first edition of Office for Microsoft Windows platforms.

5.IPO Listing

(from left to right: Microsoft CFO Frank Gaudit, Jerry, Goldman Sachs Malk Rom, Bill Gates)

March 13, 1986, Microsoft is listed on the Nasdaq. Microsoft's market capitalisation jumped to $502 million, with the birth of the 4位亿万 millionaire and 12,000 millionaires. Among them, Microsoft founder and CEO Bill Gates was worth up to $234 million.

6. The browser battle with Netscape

(left: Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale right: Bill Gates)

On October 13, 1994, Netscape (Netscape) launched its Navigator browser. The browser is a hot time, will be set up less than 16 months of Netscape pushed to the NYSE. A year later, in December 1995, Microsoft published the Internet Explorer browser and bundled with its own operating system for free distribution. This makes the IE share grow rapidly and surpass navigator.

Since then, Netscape has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice over Microsoft's sale of Internet Explorer, saying Microsoft is using its monopoly operating system to sell Internet Explorer and is allegedly violating the principle of fair competition. However, the lawsuit eventually ended. AOL (AOL) bought Netscape for $4.2 billion on November 24, 1998, followed by the dissolution of the Netscape Division and the discontinuation of browser development.

7. Invest in Apple Inc.

August 6, 1997, Microsoft announced to the "crisis" in the Apple investment of $150 million. It is the $150 million bailout that has given Apple a chance to "breathe". Apple's "full-blooded Resurrection" drama, followed by the launch of successful products and services such as ipods, iphones and ipads, has become the world's highest-value technology company.

8.Xbox

Xbox is a home game console developed by Microsoft in 2001. Compared to the same generation Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo Gamecube,xbox performance is the most powerful. Since then, Microsoft has launched Xbox 360 and Xbox One. On September 29, 2014, Xbox One was officially on sale in mainland China, becoming the first game console to officially launch the market after years of ban on Chinese game consoles.

9. Acquisition of Nokia mobile phone business

September 2, 2013, Microsoft announced that it will buy Nokia mobile phone manufacturing, equipment and services business, Lumia and Asha brand, and a large number of patent portfolios for $7.2 billion. The acquisition was announced on April 25, 2014 and the Nokia Equipment and services business was formally renamed "Microsoft Mobile".

10.Windows 10

October 1, 2014, Microsoft announces next-generation operating system Windows 10. Windows 10 covers all sizes and categories of Windows devices and is known as the biggest change in the history of windows, with virtually all hardware running on microcomputers, mobile phones, tablets, two-in-one devices, desktops and servers.

January 21, 2015, Microsoft announces that users of Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 systems can upgrade to the latest operating system Windows 10 free of charge during the first year. Users in mainland China can download WINDOWS10 via 360 security software and upgrade for free.

11. Bill Gates

Bill Gates served as CEO in 1975 when Microsoft was founded with Paul Allen. In 2000, Bill Gates, who was in power for Microsoft for 25 years, resigned as CEO of Microsoft and was Steve Ballmer successor. However, he is still chairman of the company and has created a new position for himself, "Chief Software Architect" (Chief software Architect).

In June 2006, Bill Gates announced that he would turn a full-time job at Microsoft into a freelance, full-time job at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In February 2014, Bill Gates formally resigned as chairman of Microsoft, the new position is a technical adviser, and he expressed support for the newly appointed CEO Satia Nadra.

On personal wealth, Bill Gates was ranked first in the Forbes Global Billionaires list in 1995-2007. 2013, the first to re-climb the global Billionaires list.

12. Company Logo

The company's Logo was updated 5 times in 40 by Microsoft's iteration. The latest Logo was released on August 23, 2012, before Microsoft added blue, red, green, and yellow to the word "Microsoft", representing Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, respectively. Microsoft's longest-time use was the fourth Logo, which lasted for 25 years from 1987 to 2012.

Turn from: Pingwest product play

12 pictures Look at the 40 years Microsoft has gone through