On this day in 1975, visionary tech pioneers Bill Gates and Paul Allen established a groundbreaking company known as Micro-Soft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This partnership was not their first venture together; they previously collaborated as members of the Lakeside Programming group during the early 1970s and co-founded a road traffic analysis firm called Traf-O-Data. However, it was Micro-Soft, later rebranded as Microsoft and relocated to its current headquarters in Redmond, Washington, that would revolutionize personal computing over the next fifty years.
Although there are extensive historical accounts available on platforms like Wikipedia, the 50th anniversary of Microsoft prompted me to reflect on my personal journey with the company's products. I found myself trying to remember the first Microsoft product I consciously used, which turned out to be MS-DOS 5.0. This version of MS-DOS holds a special place in my memory as it was the operating system we used on our very first computer.
That initial computer was a dated, yellowed hand-me-down, generously gifted by well-meaning members of our church. Despite its age, I was excited to have my own machine, which was a clone of the original IBM PC 5150, released in 1981. We acquired it around 1995 or 1996, and it was equipped with an Intel 8088 processor, two 5.25-inch floppy drives, and a meager 500 KB of RAM. Notably, it lacked a hard drive, meaning all data had to be stored on fragile floppy disks, many of which were deteriorating.
Before owning this computer, my experience with technology was minimal. I had only played Oregon Trail on an Apple IIe in school and had limited exposure to PCs, mostly seeing Macs in classrooms. Despite knowing that our computer was outdated, I was determined to learn as much as I could. Unbeknownst to me, the world of computing was already embracing the Windows 95 era. The operating system on our machine was MS-DOS 5.0, and that was my starting point.
Released in June 1991, MS-DOS 5.0 was a notable version of the operating system. It was the first to introduce Edit and QBasic and marked the last collaboration between Microsoft and IBM before their split. This version was a significant improvement over the problematic MS-DOS 4.0, offering new features and higher RAM requirements without the same compatibility issues. Importantly, it was also the first version available as a shrink-wrapped retail product that PC owners could purchase as a standalone upgrade.
With only a version number to go off, I ventured to our local library to find more information about MS-DOS. I stumbled upon a reference book, likely Carolyn Z. Gillay's DOS 5 Fundamentals, characterized by its toothpaste-green cover and accompanying disks with sample files. This discovery felt serendipitous, as it was precisely the resource I needed to navigate the complexities of my clunky old PC.
This book became my guide in mastering various functions of MS-DOS, including searching files, writing journal entries in the Edit application, copying and formatting disks, and creating backups. Despite the information becoming outdated quickly, my understanding of DOS proved invaluable for years to come. When we eventually upgraded to our first Windows PC, knowing how to navigate MS-DOS was essential for system reinstallation and troubleshooting.
While Microsoft has faced criticism for its anticompetitive practices during the MS-DOS and Windows eras, I cannot overlook the significant role it played in my early computing experiences. This nostalgia for my first encounter with MS-DOS has been rekindled on Microsoft's 50th anniversary, reminding me of the formative impact that technology had on my career path.
For those interested in revisiting the experience of using MS-DOS, PCjs machines offers emulators for various versions of MS-DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, and retro Windows versions directly in your web browser. Additionally, you can delve into the following retrospectives from the Ars archives for further reading:
The complete history of the IBM PC, parts one and two The Windows Start menu saga, from 1993 to the launch of Windows 10 Exploring modern retro-computing with the Book 8088 and Pocket 386 laptops The rise and fall of Internet Explorer, which was finally retired in 2022 Too much and too soon, a retrospective on Windows 8 Microsoft open-sources MS-DOS 4.00 An interview on the 30th anniversary of FreeDOS, an operating system that keeps DOS software running on newer hardware