Microsoft is celebrating its 50th anniversary today.
The company was started on April 4, 1975, by two friends, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, to create software for an early computer called the Altair 8800.
Microsoft’s big break came in 1980, when it made a deal with IBM to provide software for its personal computers. This led to the creation of MS-DOS and, later, the first version of Windows in 1985. In 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, one of its most popular products ever. It introduced features like the Start menu, File Explorer, and Recycle Bin, which are still used today.
While improving Windows, Microsoft also built software tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which became part of Microsoft Office. Office first came out in 1989 and is now used by billions of people every day.
Over the years, Microsoft expanded into other areas too. It launched the Xbox game console in 2001, the Azure cloud service in 2008, and the Bing search engine in 2009. In 2012, it introduced Surface devices, which show off the best of Windows and Office. Today, these devices are also being used to test new AI (artificial intelligence) features.
To celebrate 50 years, Microsoft is holding a special event today at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company will show off new AI features called Copilot and look back at how far it has come—and where it’s headed next.
