The History of Microsoft (1989)

January 20, 1989

The Microsoft Road Show opens in Seattle, Washington, the first of 10 stops around the country. Dealers and corporate executives have a chance to try nine different applications, get a peek at three unreleased products and attend specialty seminars on Excel and Word. *I think there is a video*

January 25, 1989

Microsoft unveils the promotional campaign for Excel for Windows, targeting users who are considering purchasing or upgrading to future releases of Lotus 1-2-3. The campaign includes an exchange offer for 1-2-3 users, free evaluation copies, and nationwide Excel seminars.

February 15, 1989

Microsoft and The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. announce that Microsoft will make a minority investment of less than 20 percent in SCO, the world's leading developer and publisher of UNIX System software. Since 1981 the two companies have worked together to develop and market XENIX, the first commercial version of the UNIX operating system.

March 27, 1989

Microsoft hosts the Fourth International Conference on CD-ROM, "Seeing Is Believing," in Anaheim, California. Among the innovations this year are an on-site electronic mail system; simultaneous translation of all sessions into Japanese via a wireless headset system; and a CD-ROM Industry Yearbook.

May 3, 1989

Microsoft and Ashton-Tate announce the shipment of the Microsoft SQL Server 1.0. The product is the result of a joint development effort of Ashton-Tate, Microsoft, and Sybase. SQL Server is a powerful, relational database server for PC-based Local Area Networks (LANs).

May 3, 1989

Steve Ballmer is promoted to Senior Vice President. He had been Vice President of Systems Software since 1984. He will report to Jon Shirley, President.

June 5, 1989

Microsoft forms the Multimedia Division, dedicated to the development and marketing of multimedia systems software and consumer products.

June 19, 1989

Office for the Macintosh is available. Macintosh applications include: Word 4.00, Excel 2.20, PowerPoint 2.01, and Mail 1.37. The four applications provide the tools to perform essential business tasks of most business professionals. *this is first version of Office*

June 26, 1989

Microsoft Mouse sales surpass two million units, twice the number sold less than one year ago. It took Microsoft five years to ship the first million units, but it has taken only one year to ship the second million. In August, Microsoft introduced a re-designed product that has accounted for 1.5 million of the total units.

July 18, 1989

The Usability Group opens its new in-house testing facilities with an open house to demonstrate usability procedures and showcase a range of new data-collection equipment. The usability group tests interfaces, documentation, and instructional materials.

August 1, 1989

Microsoft announces OnLine Plus, a comprehensive software support service that gives corporations priority access to senior technical support staff. The service includes unlimited telephone access through a private phone number and electronic access to high-level support personnel and an extensive database of product information.

August 18, 1989

The Microsoft Velvet Sweatshop logo sweatshirts are created in response to a Seattle Times cover article intended to reveal the true working environment at Microsoft. The article alleges that employees are working long and dedicated hours that preclude any personal life.

August 31, 1989

A complete Chinese MS-DOS® version 3.21 will be provided to licensed OEMs and shipped in the future by representatives in Taiwan. As a service to users in Taiwan, a retail version of the Chinese MS-DOS operating system will be made available to end users on a temporary basis. This will be the first time a retail version of MS-DOS had been made available directly to customers.

October 3, 1989

Microsoft announces the availability of Microsoft Flash File System, a file system for Intel's flash memory technology. This system allows MS-DOS to support new memory storage devices as well as traditional storage media. It allows the MS-DOS end-user to use flash memory in exactly the same way as a conventional disk drive. Microsoft will license the Flash File System in binary form to OEMs.

December 27, 1989

Microsoft announces that Jon Shirley will retire as president and chief operating officer on June 30, 1990. Shirley, president since August of 1983, will continue to play a role in the management of the company as a member of the Board of Directors and as a consultant for strategic projects.

1989 Revenue/Headcount

The 1989 fiscal year-end sales total $804,530,000.

The 1989 fiscal Year employee headcount totals 4,037people.