Company history, part 2: 1977-1979

This is the second part of the translation of a series of articles from channel9.msdn.com . Those who missed the previous part, I propose to read: 1975-1976 .



1977 for Microsoft was the beginning of an officially concluded partnership between Paul Allen and Bill Gates, the company hires the first employees and releases a new product, its second implementation of the programming language is FORTRAN-80 .



In 1978, the company released another language - COBOL-80 for microprocessors 8080, Z80 and 8085, which meets the 1974 ANSI standards. The first international sales office is being created and Microsoft is earning a million dollars for the first time .

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For Microsoft, 1979 was the year of the M6800 version of Microsoft Basic , which was released this year. The same product was the first software that won the ICP Million Dollar Award . In addition, in 1979, the Microsoft BASIC compiler became available for 8080 and Z-80 CP / M based systems.

1977

February 3, 1977

Signed a formal partnership agreement between Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

July 1, 1977

The company releases the second implementation of a programming language, this time FORTRAN-80 , at a price of $ 500 under an individual license, plus OEM licenses become available.

September 13, 1977

Microsoft gets new computers from Commodore , Radio Shack and Texas Instruments .

September 26, 1977

The Albuquerque branch is expanded by three more offices in the same building.

November 18, 1977

The company terminates the exclusive license issued by MITS for BASIC and announces versions for the 8080 and Z-80 microprocessors.

Number of employees and profit for 1977

Profit for 1977 amounted to $ 381.715, the number of employees increased to 9 people.

Other events of 1977

• Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80® Model 1 microcomputer which goes on sale for $ 600 with 4K of memory;
• Commodore Business Machines introduces the Personal Electronic Transactor (PET) computer;
• dies Elvis Presley, king of rock and roll;
• Star Wars, a high-tech blockbuster from director George Lucas, presents the R2-D2 and C3PO robots.

1978

April 11, 1978

The implementation of the programming language COBOL-80 for systems based on microprocessors 8080, Z80 and 8085 , corresponding to the 1974 ANSI standard, has been announced.

November 1, 1978

The company opens Microsoft ASCII - the first international sales office in Japan.

November 6, 1978

Microsoft announces Microsoft EDIT-80 , a line-oriented text editor with random access for 8080 and Z-80 systems. EDIT-80 is the first editor with arbitrary string access to files on floppy disks (editor with random line access to floppy disk files). [from perev .: who can translate better - tell me].

December 1, 1978

The company introduces Microsoft Macro-80 to 8080 and Z-80. This 14kbyte assembler becomes the fastest macro assembler on the market with a capacity of 1000 lines per minute.

December 1, 1978

Microsoft announces Microsoft FORTRAN-80 compiler for TRS-80.

Number of employees and profit for 1978

Revenues from sales at the end of the year exceeded $ 1 million and amounted to $ 1,355,655. The staff rose to 13 people.



* The account for the coca call office in Albuquerque in the calendar year 1978 was $ 566.50.

Other events of 1978

• Intel launches the 8086 chip and starts a 16-bit microprocessor family;
  
  
• Senator Al Gore of Tennessee utters the phrase “highway information” at a meeting with representatives of the computer industry;
  
  
• Lewis Brown becomes the first child conceived outside the human body, born in Britain;
  
  
• The United States prohibits chemicals chlorofluorocarbons, due to their threat to the ozone layer;
  
  
• Andy Gibb's Shadow Dancing arrangement tops the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks.
  
  

1979

January 1, 1979

The company is relocating its office from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Bellevue, WA.

March 12, 1979

Released M6800 version of Microsoft Basic.

April 4, 1979

The 8080 version of Microsoft® Basic becomes the first software to receive the ICP Million Dollar Award.

June 18, 1979

The number of Microsoft BASIC installations for the Z80 and 8080 has reached more than 200,000. A new version of the product for the 16-bit microprocessor 8086 has been released .

August 1, 1979

Announced versions of the Microsoft BASIC compiler for 8080 and Z-80 CP / M systems.

November 29, 1979

Services for the European market will expand with the opening of Vector Microsoft by a new company representative located in Haasrode, Belgium.

December 1, 1979

For systems based on the TRS-80 , Level III BASIC is released - the most powerful implementation of BASIC. This product was released by a new division of Microsoft Consumer Products .

December 3, 1979

Microsoft produces the first CODASYL -compliant database management system for microprocessors.

Number of employees and profit for 1979

At the end of the year, profit from sales was $ 2,390,145. The number of employees has grown to 28 people.

Other events of 1979

• VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program, is introduced at West Coast Computer Faire ;
  
  
• the first CD was created by Philips from the Netherlands and Sony from Japan;
  
  
• Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman chosen by the British Prime Minister;
  
  
• Sony introduces the first Walkman and shows the world that technology can be sophisticated and portable.
  
  

The article is based on the translation of the following articles on channel9.msdn.com:

• The History Of Microsoft 1977 http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1977/
• The History Of Microsoft 1978 http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1978/
• The History Of Microsoft 1979 http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1979/

In addition to the text, on these sites you can watch videos with materials relating to the topic.



To be continued.



PS: Microsoft photo for 1978, thanks egge