1981 Xerox Star launch
- PC GUI development by MS, Digital Research, VisiCorp, IBM

- PC not designed for GUI
- under powered

- design choices
- replace DOS and lose applications
- add a new layer and lose efficiency

MS has a revenue stream from MS-DOS

1981 MS Interface Manager
- begun after MS becomes involved in MacOS
- six programmer year estimate!
- evolves into Windows
- "Windows" chosen "to have our name basically define the generic" (1, 278)

1983 VisiCorp announces VisiOn
- foundations for GUI applications
- VisiCalc, word processor, charting package
- applications had to be developed specifically for VisiON
- 1985 VisiCorp acquired to avoid bankruptcy

1984 Apple announces Macintosh

1984 Digital Research (Kildall)
- announces Graphics Environment Manager (GEM)
- cosmetic changes to CP/M
- visually similar to Mac
- not a full scale OS
- 16-bit CP/M never catches on
- Digital Research fades away

1985 Oct, Windows Version I
- 80 programmer years, not 6
- price: $99
- Steve Ballmer, salesman (3)
- performance: slow!
- even on state of the art 80286
- MS and IBM could afford to wait for 386 and 486 machines

These notes are taken primarily from (1) and (2). Need specific citations.

1985 Nov 22: MS signs a licensing agreement with Apple to copy the visual characteristics of Mac

1987 Apr: IBM and MS announce joint development of OS/2
- a replacement for MS-DOS

- Excel and Word are beginning to catch on
- more revenue

1987 late: MS announces Windows Version 2.0
- interface almost identical to MacOS

1988 early: OS/2 launch

1988 Mar 17: Apple sues
- alleging infringement of "the Company's registered audiovisual copyrights protecting the Macintosh user interface"
- seeking to protect its product differentiation
- dismissed three years later

MS grows on ...
- 1989, the largest software company in the world
- most of the growth comes from applications
- also 2 million copies of Windows by 1989

1990 May 2: MS launches Windows 3.0
- it's a hit

1991 Apr: IBM announces OS/2, Release 2.0

Apple, IBM and MS battle for OS dominance....

MS prevails!  (at least for now....)

Notes

1. Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray. Computer: A History of the Information Machine (Basic Books, 1996).

2. Paul E. Ceruzzi, A History of Modern Computing, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003).

3. "Microsoft Windows Ad 15 Years Ago," http://www.ebaumsworld.com/ballmerwindows.html (www.ebaumsworld.com, accessed 2004 Nov 17). Video of Steve Ballmer selling Windows 1.0. From Michael King, 2004 Nov 9.