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Bill Gates goes to Harvard
Earning a 1590/1600 SAT score and the status of a National Merit Scholar, Gates is accepted to Harvard University as a pre-law major. His interests soon switch to mathematics and computer science. -
BASIC is created
Bill Gates and Paul Allen created the first language for personal computers, called BASIC. This product was licensed to Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) to perform tasks on their Altair device. -
Microsoft is founded
Bill Gates and Paul Allen begin a startup selling Altair 8800 interpreters that operate on the programming language they developed: BASIC. The name "Microsoft" is derived from "microcomputer" and "software". -
Bill's Letter to Hobbyists
Gates believed that the trend of open source sharing and pirating of software would have a detrimental effect on the quality of work that developers invest into their products. He was outspoken and adamant about this belief, despite the widespread unpopularity it had with many fellow hackers. -
MS-DOS released on IBM
"MS-DOS" stands for "Microsoft Disk Operating System". Due to Microsoft's expertise and commercial success, IBM asked them to develop an operating system to run on IBM's personal computers. MS-DOS and its command prompt become a new standard in the world of computing. -
Windows 1.0 is released
The first Windows operating system is released, beginning a new era of graphical user interface operating systems. Windows 1.0 included various core programs such as the comand prompt, Paint, Notepad, Calculator, a calendar, and more. -
MSFT IPO at $21
Microsoft shares become available on the stock market for the first time. This initial public offering is very successful, and reinforces the growing power of Microsoft as an industry giant. -
Billionaire
Bill Gates becomes the youngest billionaire at age 31, and later holds the title as richest man in the world. He is known for being a tough and confrontational, yet definitely effective business leader. -
Office 1.0 released
The first Windows Office version is released, including the programs Word 1.1, Excel 2.0, and PowerPoint 2.0. These are essential tools that highlight the functional power of personal computers. -
Internet Explorer 1.0 released
With the growing prominence of the Internet in the computing world, Microsoft releases its first edition of web browser that will evolve and develop over the next two decades with success. -
Bill Gates steps down as CEO
Gates steps down as Microsoft CEO - Forbes Gates takes the role of chief software architect, and Steve Ballmer takes over the position of CEO. Gates sees this as an opportunity to work closer with the technology, with less stress from the business responsibilites. -
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is formed
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Following his relinquished responsibilities as CEO of Microsoft, Gates and his wife establish this massive philanthropy organization with goals in education, poverty, medicine, the environment, and more. -
U.S. vs. Microsoft Corporation
This court case was initiated to investigate whether or not Microsoft had become a monopoly and abused its power, especially in regards to the web browser wars where IE was able to phase out competitors like Netscape's Navigator. Both sides eventually reached a settlement where Microsoft was not penalized, but decided to make a few concessions anyway. -
Xbox is released
Microsoft's first gaming console is released in North America, a powerful move into the gaming market. -
Persons of the Year
Bill and Melinda Gates were named Persons of the Year along with Bono, in recognition of their contributions to humanity over the years. Gates was also given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II this year as a nod to his international presence.
