5 Things You Didn't Know About Microsoft

Key Takeaways

you are watching cold fusion [Music] [Applause] TV hi welcome to another cold fusion video deogo here with Innovations such as Hollow lens and the marriage of the PC and mobile in Windows 10 it seems like Microsoft is getting back on track after some time being lost in the wilderness for some fun let's take a look back at some interesting facts and events in Microsoft's history that you may not have known about number five the name okay so let's start simple where did the name Microsoft actually come from Microsoft literally stands for micro computer software a micro computer was a term used to describe the early personal computers in the mid 1970s remember at this time computers were still massive mainframes used in corporate business the public didn't even have the concept of what a personal computer was was in fact people in the Computing business even thought the idea of a PC was ridiculous for example in 1977 Ken osen founder of digital Equipment Corporation said there is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home so in fact Bill Gates and Paul Allen were way ahead of their time to see the potential of microcomputers as early as they did in 1975 when they started Microsoft number four the m Microsoft sound there's a mysterious sound that would bring most 90s kids back to their childhood for a brief few seconds let me play it where did this sound come from the story behind it is actually quite interesting when Windows 95 was being developed Executives commissioned music legend Brian Eno to develop a piece of music to play When the operating system started up the piece of music became known as the Microsoft sound Brian enna was chosen because he had worked with the likes of David bwii and You2 I think I'm one of the founding fathers of the recognition that there are different ways of listening to music but it's been around for a long time there are other ways of hearing music and other ways of using music here are some quots by Brian Microsoft said we want a piece of music that's inspiring Universal optimistic futuristic sentimental and emotional but it has to be 3.25 seconds long I made 84 pieces I got completely lost in this world of tiny tiny little pieces of music I was so sensitive to microsc that when I finished and went back to working on four pieces of music 3 minutes seem like oceans of Time end quote but there's a Twist to the story digging a little bit deeper we find the Pinnacle of irony as it turns out Eno actually composed the music on a Mac but not just this he's actually quoted as saying I've never used a PC in my life I just don't like them number three Microsoft Bob Windows 95 was a Smash Hit and went on to become one of the most iconic pieces of software of the 20th century but packaged with Windows 95 came a complete disaster called Microsoft Bob Bob was an experiment by Microsoft in user interface design it was so such a colossal failure that it's almost been wiped from history it totally went against Microsoft's core aspect of Windows 95 ease of use Bob was supposed to be a cartoon-like interface that skinned the whole operating system instead of making the experience easier users just got a slow clunky pile of frustration instead oh and one more thing earlier when I said Bob had been wiped from history that's not totally the case Bob did actually leave something behind that's right Bob gave the World Comic Sans number two Microsoft once saved Apple the year is 1997 Apple was in trouble with its developers in store base and investors there was absolute chaos in Apple's product lines the company had almost run themselves into the ground newly reelected CEO Steve Jobs said that the company needed to strengthen its relationship with Microsoft and uh one has stood out uh as a relationship that uh hasn't been going so well but had the potential I think to be great for both companies and I'd like to uh announce one of our first Partnerships today a very very meaningful one and that is one with Microsoft [Music] Microsoft said that they would invest $150 million in Apple stock and continue Microsoft Office support for the mac and also help with improvements and further development this was largely seen as the day Microsoft saved Apple but in truth these two seemingly generous gifts to Apple were part of a larger deal although Microsoft did arguably save Apple the $150 million was actually part of a lawsuit settlement the discussions actually began uh because there were some uh patent disputes and uh rather than uh I know rather than uh repeating history I'm extremely proud of both companies that they have resolved these differences in a very very professional way number one Microsoft has had a lot of experience with smart watches so as it turns out Microsoft has already made a smartwatch 11 years ago in 2004 it was called the Microsoft spot watch it was an interesting idea it basically gave useful information like sports news weather and stocks over FM radio waves but the rabbit hole goes even deeper before this the Microsoft Office Team worked with Timex to release arguably the first Smartwatch in 1994 that's 21 years ago the Timex data link was developed as a wearable alternative to mainstream pdas it could also download phone numbers from a computer the interesting way is how it communicated with the computer data was actually transmitted using the light emitted by the computer's monitor the watch was to work seamlessly with various elements of Office 95 and 98 so looking at this final fact in a broader sense this brings us to an interesting point unold usion we've already seen how both smartphones and smart watches existed two decades ago but never really kicked off the spark that we're seeing today the same can also be said for virtual reality it's almost like we're living in a time where all the conceived and imagined ideas of the past and now finally feasible it truly is great that we're the ones that are able to witness this okay so that's enough for me I hope you've enjoyed these historical gems hidden within Microsoft's past if if there's any other lesson known Microsoft facts that you happen to know feel free to comment if you want to see more alternative videos like this please subscribe to Cold Fusion so you don't miss them thanks so much for watching guys and I'll see you again soon for the next video have a good one cold fusion it's new thinking