Important Dates in Microsoft History

Important Dates in Microsoft History

1975

Microsoft founded

Jan. 1, 1979

Microsoft moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Bellevue, Washington

June 25, 1981

Microsoft incorporates

Aug. 12, 1981

IBM introduces its personal computer with Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0

Feb. 26, 1986

Microsoft moves to corporate campus in Redmond, Washington

March 13, 1986

Microsoft stock goes public

Aug. 1, 1989

Microsoft introduces earliest version of Office suite of productivity applications

May 22, 1990

Microsoft launches Windows 3.0

Aug. 24, 1995

Microsoft launches Windows 95

Dec. 7, 1995

Bill Gates outlines Microsoft's commitment to supporting and enhancing the Internet

June 25, 1998

Microsoft launches Windows 98

Jan. 13, 2000

Steve Ballmer named president and chief executive officer for Microsoft

Feb. 17, 2000

Microsoft launches Windows 2000

June 22, 2000

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer outline Microsoft's .NET strategy for Web services

May 31, 2001

Microsoft launches Office XP

Oct. 25, 2001

Microsoft launches Windows XP

Nov. 15, 2001

Microsoft launches Xbox

Jan. 15, 2002

Bill Gates outlines Microsoft's commitment to Trustworthy Computing

Nov. 7, 2002

Microsoft and partners launch Tablet PC

April 24, 2003

Microsoft launches Windows Server 2003

Oct. 21, 2003

Microsoft launches Microsoft Office System
July 20, 2004

Microsoft announces plans to return up to $75 billion to shareholders in dividends and stock buybacks

Nov. 22, 2005

Microsoft launches Xbox 360

July 20, 2006

Microsoft announces a new US$20 billion tender offer and authorizes an additional share-repurchase program of up to $20 billion over five years

Jan. 30, 2007

Microsoft launches Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System to consumers worldwide

Feb. 27, 2008

Microsoft launches Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008

June 27, 2008

Bill Gates transitions from his day-to-day role at Microsoft to spend more time on his work at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

June 3, 2009

Microsoft launches Bing decision engine

Oct. 22, 2009

Microsoft launches Windows 7

June 15, 2010

Microsoft launches general availability of Office 2010

Nov. 4, 2010

Microsoft launches Kinect for Xbox 360

Nov. 10, 2010

Microsoft launches Windows Phone 7

Nov. 17, 2010

Microsoft announces availability of Microsoft Lync

June 28, 2011

Microsoft launches Office 365

Sept. 4, 2012

Microsoft launches Windows Server 2012

Sept. 12, 2012

Microsoft launches Visual Studio 2012

Oct. 23, 2012

Microsoft introduces new entertainment experience from Xbox

Oct. 26, 2012

Microsoft launches Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface

Oct. 29, 2012

Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8