The History of Microsoft Office: From It's Early beginnings to the most recent versions!
We discuss about the history of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the mid-1980s when it was known as WordPerfect. The evolution of this software has been nothing short of amazing. From its debut on Microsoft's market-leading DOS platform in 1985 to its latest, most recent versions released over the past few years, Office has gone through quite a transformation! In this blog post, we will take you back to the very beginning of Office and its history up to today. We will also explore the different ways that Microsoft Office has evolved in its almost 30-year history, beginning with Wordperfect and ending with the most recent releases.
What is Office?
Office, as it is today, is a suite of software that allows people to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. The suite includes products like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Stage 1: WordPerfect's origins. In the early 1980s, Microsoft introduced its first family of operating systems, starting with DOS for IBM PCs and compatibles, followed by MS-DOS for other platforms, and then Windows for PCs. Microsoft Office was originally called WordPerfect because it was designed to be used with word processing files such as DOC, DOCX, PPT, and PDF files. When the software debuted in 1985, it was called Love+Perfect, because it was jointly developed by Microsoft and Keyhole, a French software house. The software was given the name Office because its creators believed that the name would be a hit with the public.
Microsoft Word
After the success of WordPerfect, Microsoft decided to create a new word-processing software that could compete with the top-selling applications in the industry. To do so, Microsoft needed a new word-processing software that would be very similar to WordPerfect, but much, much faster. The result was WordPerfect 5.0, which was released in 1987. WordPerfect was a huge hit with the public and with professionals. However, it was not an inclusive software, meaning that it only supported the letter and numbers which were being used by default. This software was poorly suited for creating and publishing web content, which is what word processing software was originally designed for. However, with the advent of the World Wide Web, which is essentially a network of interconnected documents, word processing, and spreadsheet programs became less relevant and less necessary.
Microsoft Excel
To compete with the new breed of spreadsheet applications released each year, Microsoft released Excel 97, which was released in 1992 as an add-on for Windows 3.x. The software was very similar to existing Excel applications, but it was designed specifically for use with database tables. Excel was a huge hit with the public and with professionals, and it has remained an essential tool for dealing with business and financial data ever since. However, Excel was not an inclusive software, meaning that it only supported the letter and numbers which were being used by default. This software was poorly suited for creating and publishing web content, which is what word processing software was originally designed for. However, with the advent of the World Wide Web, which is essentially a network of interconnected documents, word processing, and spreadsheet programs became less relevant and less necessary.
Microsoft PowerPoint
To compete with the new breed of presentation software released each year, Microsoft released PowerPoint in 1993 as an add-on for Windows 3.x. PowerPoint was very similar to existing PowerPoint applications, but it was designed specifically for use with three-dimensional presentations. PowerPoint was a huge hit with the public and with professionals, and it has remained an essential tool for dealing with business and financial data ever since. However, PowerPoint was not an inclusive software, meaning that it only supported the letter and numbers which were being used by default. This software was poorly suited for creating and publishing web content, which is what word processing software was originally designed for. However, with the advent of the World Wide Web, which is essentially a network of interconnected documents, word processing, and spreadsheet programs became less relevant and less necessary.
What's Next for Microsoft Office?
Despite its impressive history, Microsoft Office has received relatively few major updates over the years. In fact, since the release of Office 97, not a single major version has been released. This is probably because the software has become so popular and has undergone so much change. The latest version of Microsoft Office, Office 2016, was released in October 2015 and offers some new features, but it is also very similar to its predecessors. For example, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are still available as separate applications, but they have been merged into a single application called Office.
Final Words
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Well, maybe not that far, but it was a long, long way from where it currently stands. Don’t let all the changes to the software and terminology confuse you. Microsoft Office is a very stable software that has been around for 30 years and will likely continue to be the de-facto standard for years to come.
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