20 Facts About Microsoft That You Probably Don’t Know

Short Bytes: Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, has been in the software industry since the mid-1970s. They have proved their dominance by launching some revolutionary products like Windows and Microsoft Office. Here are some facts which you might not know about Microsoft.

Microsoft has been in the computer business since the mid-70s and they’ve been the pioneer in the software industry since then. Co-founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, the company has been synonymous with the word Operating System as many of us used our first computer that was powered by Windows operating system.

Here are some facts which you might not know about your Redmond-based Company:

1. MS-DOS was not their first Operating System:

The very first operating system they coded was XENIX, not MS-DOS. In fact, MS-DOS was a modified license version of the 86-DOS, which was also known as Quirky and Dirty DOS, created by Seattle Computer Products in 1980. Furthermore, XENIX was also a version of the UNIX operating system but was differently named.

2. Microsoft started with another name:

Microsoft started their journey with a hyphen, I mean they were titled as Micro-Soft in their initial days. The hyphen was deleted in 1976. The term Microsoft is a combination of microcomputer and software.

3. $16000 for the first year:

The company whose ex-CEO was the world’s richest man for years had only $16,000 as the revenue for the first year.

4. The wannabe Casanova:

Bill Gates coded the class scheduling program for his high school. He wrote the code in such a way that he was allotted a seat next to girl students.

5. Mac before Windows:

Microsoft’s Office has been praised for its huge portfolio of awesome features, but you’ll be amazed to know that Office for Macintosh was released a year before (in 1989) it was released for Windows.

6. The first Virus for Windows:

WinVer 1.4 was the first virus program coded for Microsoft Windows and it was released in 1992.

7. All about Patents:

Microsoft holds more than 10,000 patents and they’ve successfully made to the list of top-five patent holders in the USA. Microsoft files around 3,000 patent requests per year.

8. The folder you can’t create:

One of the easiest tasks on Windows in creating folders and you make many of them on a daily basis. But you can’t create a folder named “CON” in Windows.

And I can bet you gave it a try and didn’t succeed, this is because Windows doesn’t allow some special characters to be a part of the folder name.

9. They like Code-names:

Microsoft has their legacy of giving code-names to their products since the time of Windows 3.1x family. For example, Windows 8.1 is called Blue and Windows Phone 8 is known as Apollo. Check out the complete list here.

10. The Dash Trash email addresses:

Microsoft employees who work on a temporary basis are assigned email addresses with a dash before the ‘@’ symbol ( -@) and are referred to as Dash Trash by permanent workers.

11. Why is manhole cover round?

These are the kind of questions asked in the interviews, probably to judge the creativity of the person.

12. Billionaire by 31:

Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates was a billionaire by the time he turned 31. In 2005, he was awarded Knighthood by the Queen of England.

13. They love M&Ms:

Microsoft loves to celebrate events with M&M candies, in fact, its kind of a tradition in the company since a long time. If you are an employee celebrating your birthday, you need to give 1 pound of M&Ms for every year you’ve worked at Microsoft.

14. They had a tablet long ago:

Microsoft introduced their first Windows XP-based tablet in 2001, but only contributed to the biggest blunders in their history. It was a touchscreen tablet with a stylus and a keyboard.

15. Call me “Softie”:

The Microsoft employees have a usual age 38 with an average pay of $100,000 for a developer. They like to call themselves “Softie”.

16. The Art Fans:

Microsoft has one of the biggest art collection at around 150 of their office locations, as they believe art in the workplace reduces tension and enhances productivity. The Microsoft Art Collection showcases 4,728 pieces, including work from Cindy Sherman, Chuck Close, and Takashi Murakami.

17. The Interface Manager:

The very famous Windows operating system was initially titled as Interface Manager. Thank god, someone intervened and saved Microsoft from the disastrous path.

18. The “Microsoft Rescued Apple in the summer of 1997” myth:

Apple had its dark days in the 1990s when Jobs was not there for the company. One myth that has been floating around since the time Jobs was re-appointed as the CEO of Apple, that Bill Gates promised Steve Jobs that he would invest $150 million in Apple, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.

19. Far reached out:

More than 1.5 billion people use Windows every day, and 1.2 billion people use Microsoft Office – this is around “1 in every 7” people on earth. Microsoft’s Outlook has 400 million active users and around 3 billion minutes of Skype calls are made every day.

20. The Charity:

Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates donated his whole wealth to charity for two times. He also started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, engaged for the upliftment of people in poor and developing nations.

Also Read: 20 Surprising Facts About Apple That You Probably Didn’t Know

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