Term Papers on The Evolution Of The PC And Microsoft

Term Paper Title	The Evolution Of The PC And Microsoft
# of Words	745
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.98

The Evolution of the PC and Microsoft

     Kasey Anderson
     2/21/97
     Computer Tech.
     ESSAY

     Xerox, Apple, IBM, and Compaq all played major roles in the development
of the Personal Computer, or łPC,˛ and the success of Microsoft.  Though it may
seem so, the computer industry did not just pop-up overnight.  It took many
years of dedication, hard-work, and most importantly, thievery to turn the
personal computer from a machine the size of a Buick, used only by zit-faced ł
nerds,˛ to the very machine I am typing this report on.

     Xerox started everything off by creating the first personal computer,
the ALTO, in 1973.  However, Xerox did not release the computer because they did
not think that was the direction the industry was going.  This was the first of
many mistakes Xerox would make in the next two decades.  So, in 1975, Ed Roberts
built the Altair 80800, which is largely regarded as the first PC.  However, the
Altair really served no real purpose.  This left computer-lovers still yearning
for the łperfect˛ PC...actually, it didnšt have to be perfect, most łnerds˛ just
wanted their computer to do SOMETHING.

     The burning need for a PC was met in 1977, when Apple, a company formed
by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, released itšs Apple II.  Now the nerds were
satisfied, but that wasnšt enough.  In order to catapult the PC in to a big-time
product, Apple needed to make it marketable to the average Joe.  This was made
possible by Visical, the home spread sheet.  The Apple II was now a true-blue
product.

     In order to compete with Applešs success, IBM needed something to set
its product apart from the others.  So they developed a process called łopen
architecture.˛  Open architecture meant buying all the components separately,
piecing them together, and then slapping the IBM name on it.  It was quite
effective.  Now all IBM needed was software.  Enter Bill Gates.

     Gates, along with buddy Paul Allen, had started a software company
called Microsoft.  Gates was one of two major contenders for IBM.  The other was
a man named Gary Kildall.  IBM came to Kildall first, but he turned them away
(He has yet to stop kicking himself) and so they turned to Big Bad Bill Gates
and Microsoft.

     Microsoft would continue supplying IBM with software until IBM insisted
Microsoft develop Q/DOS, which was c...

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