Humanities › History & Culture Timeline of Microsoft Corporation A history timeline of computing giant Microsoft. Share Flipboard Email Print Mike MacKenzie / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 History & Culture Inventions Computers & The Internet Famous Inventions Famous Inventors Patents & Trademarks Invention Timelines American History African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Mary Bellis Inventions Expert Mary Bellis covered inventions and inventors for ThoughtCo for 18 years. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell. our editorial process Mary Bellis Updated November 18, 2019 This timeline shows the main events in Microsoft history. 1975: Microsoft foundedJanuary 1, 1979: Microsoft moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Bellevue, WashingtonJune 25, 1981: Microsoft incorporatesAugust 12, 1981: IBM introduces its personal computer with Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0November 1983: Microsoft Windows announcedNovember 1985: Microsoft Windows version 1.0 releasedFebruary 26, 1986: Microsoft moves to corporate campus in Redmond, WashingtonMarch 13, 1986: Microsoft stock goes publicApril 1987: Microsoft Windows version 2.0 releasedAugust 1, 1989: Microsoft introduces earliest version of Office suite of productivity applicationsMay 22, 1990: Microsoft launches Windows 3.0August 24, 1995: Microsoft launches Windows 95December 7, 1995: Internet by launching internet explorer a web browser.June 25, 1998: Microsoft launches Windows 98Jan. 13, 2000: Steve Ballmer named president and chief executive officer for MicrosoftFeb. 17, 2000: Microsoft launches Windows 2000June 22, 2000: Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer outline Microsoft's .NET strategy for Web servicesMay 31, 2001: Microsoft launches Office XPOct. 25, 2001: Microsoft launches Windows XPNov. 15, 2001: Microsoft launches XboxNov. 7, 2002: Microsoft and partners launch Tablet PCApril 24, 2003: Microsoft launches Windows Server 2003Oct. 21, 2003: Microsoft launches Microsoft Office SystemNov. 22, 2005: Microsoft launches Xbox 360Jan. 30, 2007: Microsoft launches Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System to consumers worldwideFeb. 27, 2008: Microsoft launches Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008June 27, 2008: Bill Gates transitions from his day-to-day role at Microsoft to spend more time on his work at The Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationJune 3, 2009: Microsoft launches Bing search engineOct. 22, 2009: Microsoft launches Windows 7June 15, 2010: Microsoft launches general availability of Office 2010Nov. 4, 2010: Microsoft launches Kinect for Xbox 360Nov. 10, 2010: Microsoft launches Windows Phone 7Nov. 17, 2010: Microsoft announces availability of Microsoft LyncJune 28, 2011: Microsoft launches Office 365 Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Bellis, Mary. "Timeline of Microsoft Corporation." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/timeline-of-microsoft-corporation-1991139. Bellis, Mary. (2020, August 28). Timeline of Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/timeline-of-microsoft-corporation-1991139 Bellis, Mary. "Timeline of Microsoft Corporation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/timeline-of-microsoft-corporation-1991139 (accessed January 23, 2021). copy citation Watch Now: Microsoft by the Numbers