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Bill Gates and Paul Allen create a version of the BASIC language to run on microcomputers
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Microsoft founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen<P>
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IBM awards Microsoft the contract to provide an operating system for the IBM PC. This operating system later becomes known as MS-DOS. <P>
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Microsoft released Microsoft Word. The word processor is the first to use WYSIWYG features.
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Microsoft launches the first version of Windows. <p>
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Microsoft announces OS/2, an operating system developed jointly with IBM. OS/2 is officially released in December of 1987. <p>
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Microsoft releases Windows 3.0. This is the first version of Windows that gains popularity among IBM PC users and eventually becomes a standard install by manufacturers.
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Microsoft announces Visual Basic, a development platform with a visual interface.
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Windows NT is launched. Originally developed as OS/2 version 3.0, Microsoft slowly split from IBM and the joint development of OS/2 after Windows 3.0's popularity.
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Microsoft releases Windows 95, the replacement to MS-DOS. The Microsoft Network (MSN) is also officially launched on this date. <p>
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Microsoft XP is released. This operating system signals the end of the Windows 95 line of operating systems and brings the NT line into the mainstream. <p>
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Microsoft launches the Xbox.
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Microsoft announces Windows Mobile, an operating system for smartphones and PDAs<p>
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Microsoft releases Windows Vista. The release of Windows Vista came more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems.<p>
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Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible.<p>
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