Although the world was familiar with computers by the mid-1970s, we owe their commercial exploitation to Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft. They make computers usable for everyone.
This vision actually accompanies young students when they go to school together. Gates and Allen were already interested in computers and programming in the early 1970s. But how did the two manage to turn their visions into reality, find Microsoft and lead the company to worldwide success?
To understand this, let’s go back to the late 1960s. Back then, there were big computers or little boxes with flashing lights and no screen. These ancient calculators have nothing to do with computers as we know them today. Therefore, very few people pay attention to it, just real computer geeks. At the time, computers did not play the role of the common man.
First successes
Bill Gates and Paul Allen want to change that. Even after school, the two inventors work on seeing them in their spare time. Paul Allen was studying at Washington State University at the time. At the same time, his friend Bill Gates began to study mathematics at the famous Harvard University. During their studies, they both founded their first company in 1972 with Traf-o-Data. The sole purpose of the company: to develop software for calculating traffic.
This work takes a lot of time and requires a lot of commitment. As a result, Paul Allen dropped out of college for the first time, and was soon followed by Bill Gates. From now on they both work as programmers. Bill Gates developed a programming language for the Altair 8800 computer for some time.
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Programming language makes Microsoft popular
In 1975 he achieved a major breakthrough. The programming language Altair BASIC 2.0, which he developed, constitutes the raw material for the subsequent marketing of home computers. BASIC has long been known as a computer language. By the early 1980s, almost all PC owners knew what BASIC was. Commodore 64 – C64 for short, or affectionately called the “bread box” – BASIC has become known all over the world.
Until then, however, a lot of development work is still necessary. Bill Gates and Paul Allen are now pushing this up in strides. In order to commercialize the Altair BASIC 2.0 programming language developed by Bill Gates, he and his friend Paul Allen founded Micro-Soft on April 4, 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico—initially written with a dash and capital S. The name consists of the words “microscopiccomputers andflexiblegoods” together. At the time, the microcomputer was the first name for smaller calculating machines.
Microsoft BASIC changes everything
Like Microsoft, Bill Gates and Paul Allen entered into a licensing agreement with MITS – an acronym for: Micro Instrument Telemetry Systems. MITS developed the Altair 8800. At that time, Microsoft supplied MITS with two versions of their programming language: Altair BASIC 4K and Altair BASIC 8K. According to the contract, Microsoft will receive a one-time payment of $3,000. For each sold version of the Altair BASIC 4K, there are $30 and $35 on sale for the Altair BASIC 8K and up to $60 for the so-called extended version, that is, BASIC with the manual and the Altair 8800 kit. Hard to imagine today: at that time, the computer still had to be soldered Strictly at home.
This first licensing agreement with MITS gives the young company Microsoft startup capital to build much bigger things. Only a year later, in 1976, the company released a development in Altair BASIC called Microsoft BASIC. This programming language forms the basis for the previously mentioned C64, but also for a completely unknown computer company at the time with a small apple as its brand logo. Apple also uses the Microsoft BASIC version as a basis for developing its operating system.
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This is Microsoft today
Everything that comes after that is known:
- MS DOS,
- windows,
- Microsoft Office, with Word and Excel.
Microsoft, the company that initially only developed programming languages, is now one of the most important software and computer companies in the world. Thanks to its products, Microsoft now generates annual sales of nearly $170 billion.
Without Microsoft, without the vision and pioneering work of Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the massive spread of home computers wouldn’t have been this way. In the end, the two founders of Microsoft also influenced the further technical development in the direction of smartphones.
Also Read: Bill Gates’ Biggest Mistake Ever
By the way: Paul Allen was not aware of the rapid development. He left Microsoft in 1983 due to illness. As a member of the board of directors and a strategic advisor, he has been loyal to the company for a long time. Paul Allen died of cancer in 2018.
Bill Gates has since retired from the operating business. In 2008, he took a back seat to work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charity he founded with his then-wife. Bill Gates still works as a consultant to Microsoft today.
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