Microsoft Trivia.
Discover some fun facts about the software giant that took over the world.
Software
- BASIC - Microsoft's first software product was a version of the BASIC programming language, developed for the Altair 8800.
- Xenix - Before MS-DOS, Microsoft had its own Unix-based operating system called Xenix.
- MS-DOS - In 1981, IBM was scrambling to find a suitable operating system to run on its first Personal Computer after a deal between them and Digital Research fell through. Bill Gates promised that Microsoft would provide an OS for them. Microsoft then purchased a license to 86-DOS/QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) from Seattle Computer Products, modified it and renamed the product MS-DOS.
Corporation
- Micro-soft - "Microsoft" as a name is a blend of the words "microcomputer" and "software", and was originally hyphenated. The term, 'Microcomputer' was the original name given to desktop computers to differentiate them from mainframe or minicomputers.
- The Logo - The current Microsoft logo, introduced in 2012, reuses the four coloured squares motif originally found in the Windows logo prior to Windows 8. The four boxes represent Microsoft's main product divisions: Red for Office, Green for Xbox, Blue for Windows and Cloud services and Yellow for Surface and Search (Bing).
Microsoft Hardware
- 'Surface' Table - The original "Microsoft Surface" was an interacive touch-screen digital coffee table, released by Microsoft and Samsung in 2008. The product was renamed 'PixelSense' and the 'Surface' name was reused for Microsoft's Surface line of Windows tablet PC's.
