A Brief History of Microsoft Products

Microsoft was founded in the mid-70s and released their first major operating system, MS-DOS, in the early 1980s. Since then, their history reflects the changing needs of both customers and IT professionals in many key areas. These include OSs, desktop applications and server programs. What follows is a brief history of some of Microsoft’s products with a focus on how they have evolved to meet the changing needs of everyday customers and IT professionals.

Windows

Microsoft’s popular operating system developed out of a need for a more user-friendly way to manipulate MS-DOS. Subsequent versions improved usability, memory management and multitasking. The need for more stability and power led to the development of Windows NT, based on the NTFS file system and supporting 32-bit processors. Shortly after, Microsoft developed Windows 95 for desktop users. While still based on the FAT file system, the Windows 9x family did run on a 32-bit processor. Windows 96 was Microsoft’s best-selling product to date.

Later, Microsoft combined their OS platforms with Windows XP. XP was NTFS-based and responded to the needs of professionals by being far more stable than its predecessors. It sold 400 million copies and contributed to a boom in Microsoft training. The desktop and server OS platforms continued to evolve to meet the power, networking and reliability needs both on the desktop and in the server room with the releases of Windows 7 and server products Windows 2003 and 2008. On the cusp of Windows 8, Microsoft looks to make major changes again in their continuing effort to meet user demand.

Office

Office is Microsoft’s most widely-used desktop operating system. Released in 1990, Office 1.0 featured only rudimentary versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. As later editions developed, Office met the need for a desktop email client with Outlook and database support with Access. Later versions of Office include a la carte additional software such as Visio and Publisher, designed to meet individual users’ needs. Today, Office has evolved into the the centerpiece of Microsoft’s larger enterprise-level collaboration strategy, built around SharePoint.

SharePoint

Starting as a simple web development tool, SharePoint has grown into a major all-in-one solution for IT professionals. SharePoint started life as Microsoft Site Server, a collection of tools designed to assist in site building and collaboration. Subsequent releases have added features like a full dashboard, PowerShell support and web parts, all based on user feedback. Today, collaboration is the main focus of SharePoint. Administrators with Microsoft training can implement a SharePoint solution for document management and collaboration with total Office integration. SharePoint is still used to develop sites, but it, like Windows, Office and many other Microsoft products, has evolved into something far greater based on the demand of IT professionals.

Getting Started with Microsoft Lync Training

Microsoft launched Microsoft Lync Server 2010 in early 2011. This unified communications solution takes over from Office Communicator, the previous instant messaging client. Combining Voice Over IP (VOIP), Instant Messaging (IM), and conferencing, it is a complex full service communications client. If your department is responsible for implementing and maintaining Microsoft Lync, your systems administrators are going to need Microsoft Lync training to make sure they're up to speed on the best practices for working with the server. Microsoft Lync Server 2010 integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server to provide contact lists based on Outlook contacts, and availability of contacts based on Outlook calendars. Lync Server can also provide VOIP services, either integrating with a corporate telephone system or providing services for voice communications both to Lync-enabled desktop handsets as well as integrated headsets and speaker sets that connect to a PC or laptop via USB. Deploying a unified messaging (UM) system gives a company flexibility in employee working arrangements. A UM environment can provide automatic call forwarding, and the Lync mobile client enables a seamless presence for employees. Whether they are at their desk, at a client site, on travel, or stuck in traffic, if they are available then the person trying to reach them (via voice or IM) need not care where they are - calls are automatically forwarded to their location. They can screen their calls, and if they're unable to answer, they will receive a transcription of the voicemail in their email inbox. It's a very powerful solution. Integration with Exchange means that if they are scheduled to be in a meeting, their calls can be automatically routed to voicemail without disturbing them. Rules for presence are easily customized by the user, so for example they can set an "At lunch" status with a list of high-priority contacts. Anyone who calls them while they are "Out to lunch" will be sent to voicemail, except for contacts on the high-priority list, who will ring through to their mobile phone. Microsoft Lync Training from QuickStart Intelligence is essential for administrators who are new to this platform. QuickStart Intelligence is a Microsoft Gold Partner.