The Microsoft company has existed since 1975 and since then has changed the world as we know it forever. No wonder that over the decades there have been a number of interesting, surprising or almost funny facts that can be told about the Redmond-based company.
Because Windows is not everything. Did you know that Microsoft developed one of the very first smartwatches – back in 1994?! And if you apply for a position at the company and are invited to an interview, you should know about manhole covers. But alas, we are anticipating.
Let’s dig deeper into some of the most exciting facts about Microsoft together. And to increase the surprise factor, for once there is no table of contents. Have fun while reading!
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Fact 1: Microsoft has more patents than some cities have residents
Microsoft is really busy. Are you working on Windows, Office, the Xbox, various cloud services and…patents? No joke, one could almost think that submitting inventions and concepts worthy of protection would be part of an internal program for the creative development of employees. If you’re still looking for ideas for tonight’s evening activities, you can browse all.
More than 70,000 patents have already been awarded to Microsoft, of which more than 50,000 are active and must be taken into account by competitors and other companies. With that, Microsoft could found its own small town with nothing but patents as inhabitants. The name? Good question. Patenthofen? Patentopolis? New Patent City?
If you want, you can find out more about the company’s patents on a Microsoft website set up specifically for this purpose.
Fact 2: Microsoft saved Apple from ruin
Okay, this fact is even somewhat well known. Although it may sound inconceivable today, in 1997 Microsoft’s long-time rival Apple was on the verge of becoming rotten fruit forever and having to close its doors.
But at the last moment help came from an unexpected place, namely from Redmond. Microsoft made a $150 million investment in the Cupertino, California-based company, extending the life of what is now the world’s most valuable company. Not entirely unselfish, of course, because in return Apple promoted Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to the standard browser on Macs and dropped an ongoing lawsuit against the unexpected rescuer.
Curious: This rescue operation was received negatively by many Apple enthusiasts. So negative that Bill Gates briefly went live during Apple’s Macworld 1997 in-house show violently booed
Fact 3: Microsoft was working on a smartwatch even before the PlayStation 1 came out
Sony’s legendary first games console saw the light of day in December 1994. In June of the same year, Bill Gates introduced a special watch: The Timex Datalink. Microsoft had developed the watch in cooperation with the watch manufacturer Timex and ensured that one can confidently speak of an early form of the smartwatches that are so popular today.
Sure, you still had to do without app stores or fitness functionalities with the Datalink. Nevertheless, it already had a lot on the box, for example the display of appointments, wireless file transfer to and from PDAs and programmability thanks to several interfaces published by Microsoft.
However, the Timex Datalink was not a groundbreaking success. Microsoft was probably – not for the last time in its history – just a little too early.
Bill Gates and smart watches. This was no flash in the pan, as seen here at CES 2003. (Source: Bloomberg.com)
Fact 4: Microsoft Office first appeared on a Mac
Word, Excel, Powerpoint – the holy triumvirate for Windows PCs that are in offices worldwide. The joke is: The office program collection made its debut on an Apple computer, in 1989 to be precise. It wasn’t until a year later that Windows PCs were launched. But why did you decide to do this?
The reason will in an email of the former Microsoft employee Ben Waldman to Bill Gates: The Mac business is not nearly as important for Microsoft as the Windows business. That’s why you can first test new software in peace and quiet on Apple systems and get feedback from users.
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Fact 5: Windows could have been called something completely different
Bill Gates has achieved a lot. entrepreneur, programmer, Secret Santa bei Reddit – this man has a lot on the box. But you know what he can’t seem to do at all? Come up with appealing names. That almost became his undoing, and with it the Microsoft company, when it came to naming their operating system, which was then under development.
Because the good Bill apparently had in his head for a long time, the OS simply Interface Manager
to call. Interface manager. Let that melt in your mouth. Here the name would be program in the truest sense of the word! We would have enjoyed legendary classics like Interface Manager ME, Interface Manager Vista and Interface Manager Phone 8.1.
Luckily there was a marketing department to deal with Windows
has enforced.
Copy, paste, cut files – with the current Interface Manager 11 it’s easier than ever!
Still not fed up with facts about Microsoft? on Page 2 it goes on unabated! There you will find out what to expect in a job interview at Microsoft and why the Windows 95 start-up sound is a real professional job.
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