Microsoft Unveils 'Windows' Software Backed by Industry

The Wall Street Journal

November 11, 1983

N.Y. - MICROSOFT CORP., THE BELLEVUE, WASH., COMPUTER SOFTWARE COMPANY, SCORED A COUP YESTERDAY WHEN IT ANNOUNCED A PRODUCT BACKED BY MOST LEADING MAKERS OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS AND RIVAL MAKERS OF SOFTWARE.

MICROSOFT WINDOWS, DESIGNED TO MAKE IT EASIER TO JUGGLE SEVERAL COMPUTER JOBS SIMULTANEOUSLY, WAS UNVEILED AT A NEWS CONFERENCE THAT FEATURED REPRESENTATIVES OF MANY OF THE 23 COMPUTER MAKERS THAT ALREADY HAVE AGREED TO SELL THE PRODUCT. THEY INCLUDE APPLE COMPUTER INC., DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP., HEWLETT-PACKARD CORP., TANDY CORP., TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. AND WANG LABORATORIES INC.

EXECUTIVES FROM SIX MAJOR SOFTWARE COMPANIES--COMPETITORS OF MICROSOFT--ALSO JOINED THE PRESENTATION TO OUTLINE THEIR PLANS FOR PRODUCTS THAT WOULD WORK WITH THE NEW MICROSOFT PACKAGE.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. WAS THE BIGGEST PERSONAL-COMPUTER MAKER ABSENT FROM MICROSOFT'S INTRODUCTION, EVEN THOUGH MICROSOFT WINDOWS WILL OPERATE WITH THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER. SUCH NEAR-UNANIMITY IS HIGHLY UNUSUAL IN THE PERSONAL-COMPUTER INDUSTRY, WHERE MACHINES AND SOFTWARE OFTEN WON'T OPERATE WITH PRODUCTS FROM OTHER MAKERS.

MICROSOFT'S PRODUCT GIVES IT A STRONG CHANCE OF DOMINATING THE TREND TOWARD "WINDOWING" FEATURES IN SOFTWARE, WHICH COULD FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE WAY PEOPLE USE DESK-TOP COMPUTERS.

GENERALLY, COMPUTER USERS CAN WORK ON ONLY ONE PROGRAM AT A TIME, AND THEY MUST LEARN COMPLEX CODES AND KEYSTROKES. BY CONTRAST, WINDOWING OFFERS SIMPLE POINTING DEVICES AND PICTURE SYMBOLS AND ALLOWS PEOPLE TO WORK ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT JOBS SIMULTANEOUSLY; THEY ARE ABLE TO MOVE DATA FROM ONE "WINDOW" ON THE SCREEN INTO ANOTHER.

OTHER WINDOWING PACKAGES HAVE PRECEDED THE MICROSOFT PRODUCT. BUT MICROSOFT'S IS THE FIRST TO FIT ANY MACHINE, REGARDLESS OF BRAND, THAT USES A 16-BIT MICROPROCESSOR, A CHIP THAT TAKES 16 BITS OF INFORMATION AT A TIME AND MICROSOFT'S MS/DOS OPERATING SYSTEM AN INDUSTRY STANDARD. THAT THREATENS THE NEW-PRODUCT HOPES OF VISICORP, WHOSE VISION WINDOWING PROGRAM HASN'T YET HIT THE MARKET, AND QUARTERDECK, WHICH HAS A SIMILAR PRODUCT.

"TO HAVE JUST ABOUT EVERY MAJOR PLAYER IN THE MARKET EXCEPT IBM BACKING THIS PRODUCT IS CLEARLY A MAJOR COUP FOR MICROSOFT," SAID CLIVE SMITH OF YANKEE GROUP, THE BOSTON COMPUTER CONSULTANT. "ANYTIME YOU GET ALL THOSE COMPANIES IN ONE ROOM ENDORSING ANYTHING, IT'S A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT TOWARD STANDARDIZATION."

MICROSOFT WILL BEGIN SHIPPING THE WINDOWS DISKS TO COMPUTER MAKERS BY THE END OF APRIL. RANA SYSTEMS, A PARTNER WITH APPLE IN A DISK-DRIVE VENTURE, AND OTHER VENDORS WILL SELL MICROSOFT WINDOWS AS PART OF THE HARDWARE AT AN ADDITIONAL $100 TO $150--LESS EXPENSIVE THAN THE ABOUT $450 FOR VISION.

SOFTWARE MAKERS INCLUDING LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORP., PEACHTREE SOFTWARE PUBLISHING AND ASHTON-TATE ALREADY ARE WORKING ON REFINING THEIR PRODUCTS TO USE THE ENHANCED PRINTING AND GRAPHICS CAPABILITIES OF THE MICROSOFT PACKAGE.