Happy birthday Word!

At Microsoft we have the tradition of bringing in a lb of M&M's for every year we complete. This year, I brought 6 lb's of M&M's. This week, if you bee lined to Building # 36 which is the Microsoft Office Building you'd find 25 lbs of M&M's. Can you believe it's 25 years since Microsoft launched its first version of Word. I am so glad that Mr. Clippy is no longer alive. I think he was about 6 years when MS decided to put him to sleep with MS Office 2007...lol!

 

May 2, 1983 — Microsoft announces the latest addition to its Multi-Tool Family of productivity tools, Microsoft Word. Word provided many features previously available only on dedicated word processors costing up to $10,000, including undo, style sheets, and cut/paste between multiple document windows.

Also important was the ability to use the new Microsoft Mouse to "designate text (e.g., for underlining or deletion), scroll through text, select commands, select options within commands, and even execute the commands." Many early Word advertisements included prominent shots of the mouse, as in this week's featured image.

It's amazing to see how software's evolved. I'd love to see the next versions of word with Speech built in. It's already included but I think it can be much better. Arguably, it's one of my favorite programs.

 

-Mithun Dhar

Technorati tags: Word, 25 years, history

Comments

• Anonymous
  May 02, 2008
  Buon compleanno Word!!! Cavolo... 25 anni... come li porti bene!!!

• Anonymous
  May 02, 2008
  Me too! :)