Vista Monitors Unleashed
Description
Okay, I'm a total sucker for looking back into anything. I love VHI's "I love the eighties". I could spend hours in the Microsoft Visitors Center checking out old photos and Key Events from the 70's. It just goes to show you how much and how quickly the world changes. I found these key events from the seventies and if anybody finds this stuff as interesting as I do let me know and I'll bring you the following decade. 
1975
January 1. The MITS Altair 8800 appears on the cover of Popular Electronics, inspiring Paul Allen and Bill Gates to develop a BASIC language for the Altair.
February 1. Bill Gates and Paul Allen sell BASIC, the first computer language program for a personal computer, to Microsoft's first customer, MITS of Albuquerque, NM.
March 1. Paul Allen joins MITS as director of software.
April 7. "Altair BASIC‑Up and Running," declares the headline of the first edition of MITS Computer Notes.
July 1. BASIC officially ships as version 2.0 in both 4K and 8K editions.
1976
February 3. Bill Gates is one of the first programmers to raise the issue of software piracy. In "An Open Letter to Hobbyists," first published in MITS Computer Notes, Gates accuses hobbyists of stealing software and thus preventing "...good software from being written." He prophetically concludes with the line, "...Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software."
March 27. Bill Gates gives the opening address at the First Annual World Altair Computer Convention, held in Albuquerque.
November 1. Paul Allen resigns from MITS to join Microsoft full time.
November 26. The trade name Microsoft is registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.
1977
February 3. Paul Allen and Bill Gates execute an official partnership agreement.
July 1. FORTRAN-80, Microsoft's second language product, is available.
1978
November 1. Microsoft establishes its first international sales office in Japan, ASCII Microsoft.
December 31. Microsoft's year-end sales exceed $1 million.
1979
January 1. Microsoft moves its offices to Bellevue, WA, from Albuquerque.
More episodes in this series
Cartoon Overlord
Related episodes
Ms Archives: A slice of Microsoft History
A look at Microsoft History - The Eighties
A look back at my life with Bill Gates
Rock Band 2 coming this September
NBA Live Chooses 2009 Cover Athlete
Making of "The Incredible Hulk" Xbox 360 Game
Video Games Live announces 50 new shows
Goooooooool!! Microsoft meets the Brasilian National Soccer Team
"Aces of the Galaxy" and "Roogoo" coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade tomorrow
Softkinetic - Changing the way you play games
The Discussion
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Erik Porter 1979 was a good year...for me to be born!
This was an interesting list. I knew most of it being a Microsoft geek (since way before joining), but there were a couple things in there I wasn't aware of. Nice!
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HumanCompiler 1979 was a good year...for me to be born!
This was an interesting list. I knew most of it being a Microsoft geek (since way before joining), but there were a couple things in there I wasn't aware of. Nice!
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Ted Bracewell The next entry should be "April 1979... TeddyB is born." Who would've thought that the folks in that photo would build something like Microsoft. I wish my parents had put in a few bucks... It's like when you hear about how if you'd invested 4 dollars in Coca Cola at the beginning it would be worth millions today. Amazing.
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Ted Bracewell The next entry should be "April 1979... TeddyB is born." Who would've thought that the folks in that photo would build something like Microsoft. I wish my parents had put in a few bucks... It's like when you hear about how if you'd invested 4 dollars in Coca Cola at the beginning it would be worth millions today. Amazing.
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Erik Porter Freaky...what day is your birthday? I'm 4-9-79.
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HumanCompiler Freaky...what day is your birthday? I'm 4-9-79.
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Ted Bracewell 4-22-79... 2 days ago :o
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Ted Bracewell 4-22-79... 2 days ago :o
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Erik Porter Happy 28th birthday to you!
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HumanCompiler Happy 28th birthday to you!
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Ted Bracewell And to you, good sir, although a tad bit belated.
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Ted Bracewell And to you, good sir, although a tad bit belated.
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Matthew Mushall Happy belated birthdays Teddy and Erik.
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Matthew Mushall Happy belated birthdays Teddy and Erik.
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scratchex Yeah Happy Belated B-days folks!
Maybe one day we'll be part of on10 history. :=) -
scratchex Yeah Happy Belated B-days folks!
Maybe one day we'll be part of on10 history. :=) -
39cents wow.. in a few short years you go from a startup with two ppl to making over a mill in a single year!!
im very interested to see how the 80's played out for ms.
ps... not sure when my birthday is.. ive chosen one for myself outta the 4 dates it might be but im pretty sure it was in 1979.
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39cents wow.. in a few short years you go from a startup with two ppl to making over a mill in a single year!!
im very interested to see how the 80's played out for ms.
ps... not sure when my birthday is.. ive chosen one for myself outta the 4 dates it might be but im pretty sure it was in 1979.
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Flashbak So, I have to ask, is the Microsoft Museum/Visitor Centre open to civilians?
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Flashbak So, I have to ask, is the Microsoft Museum/Visitor Centre open to civilians?
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Dengin He prophetically concludes with the line, "...Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software."
That was 1976, I'm still waiting... and yes, I do actually remember 1976.
And I love "I love the 80s" and cringe at how much of it I remember/did.
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Dengin He prophetically concludes with the line, "...Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software."
That was 1976, I'm still waiting... and yes, I do actually remember 1976.
And I love "I love the 80s" and cringe at how much of it I remember/did.
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Chris Arnold Its amazing to see what they all looked back then. Without knowing what I know now, I doubt I would of invested if I was around in those days.
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Chris Arnold Its amazing to see what they all looked back then. Without knowing what I know now, I doubt I would of invested if I was around in those days.
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39cents flashbak brings up a good question.. is the center open to visitors? also.. im very interested in what happens in the 80's. i didnt realize how quick ms took off. in just a couple of years they go from a start up to a million dollar a year company.
ps.. i was also born in '79!! .. but sadly thats all i can confidently say. i dont know what my birthday REALLY is. i decided on one. but there could be any of about 4 days.
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39cents flashbak brings up a good question.. is the center open to visitors? also.. im very interested in what happens in the 80's. i didnt realize how quick ms took off. in just a couple of years they go from a start up to a million dollar a year company.
ps.. i was also born in '79!! .. but sadly thats all i can confidently say. i dont know what my birthday REALLY is. i decided on one. but there could be any of about 4 days.