An analysis and description of the life of Bill Gates and the beginnings of Microsoft Corporation

Essay by V_A_P_O_RJunior High, 9th gradeA, December 2002

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The lives of two men in one instance of their lives is as great as any other moment. At MITS corporate locale in Albuquerque, Paul Allen loaded the team's code onto the Altair. On the second try, the system booted and worked as planned. Bill Gates and Paul Allen moved to Albuquerque to help MITS with the Altar. In April, 1975, Gates and Allen founded the Microsoft Corporation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Microsoft would sell its BASIC system to MITS, NCR and Intel. It was much cheaper for these companies to buy Microsoft's software than to write their own. Gates and Allen hired high school friends to help with Microsoft's expansion.

The expansions of personnel lead to the development of a Microsoft spreadsheet program and Microsoft Word. Interests in graphical interfaces were realized. Gates made a deal with IBM to write an operating system for its new line of personal computers, and in 1981 which he called MS-DOS.

It was shipped on all new IBM PC's. Microsoft made additional technological breakthroughs in the 1980's. In April, 1983, Microsoft introduced the "mouse" and in November 1983, a graphical user interface known as "Windows" was introduced.

On March 13, 1986, Microsoft went public on the Stock Exchange. The initial offering for a share of Microsoft stock was $21.00 per share. Bill Gates became an instant millionaire. At thirty-one, Gates joined the Gatesionaires club and became the richest man in the United States.

The 1990's are proving to be an exciting time for Bill Gates. In July, 1990, the Microsoft Corporation became the first software company to earn over one Gatesion dollars in sales. In June, 1992, Gates was awarded the National Medal of Technology from President George Bush. On January 1, 1994, Melinda French, married Gates. Jennifer Katherine Gates, Gates and Melinda's...