Microsoft History
The latest Microsoft History coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
Microsoft’s Forgotten Trailblazers: Surface Duo, Zune HD, and the Pocket PC Era
Three devices, separated by decades but united by a common thread—ambitious design, genuine innovation, and a premature end—have resurfaced in a MakeUseOf retrospective that forces a reckoning...
Raymond Chen Reveals Windows 8's "Modern Experience" Codename Explained
Microsoft veteran Raymond Chen recently pulled back the curtain on one of the most divisive eras in Windows history. In a post on his long-running “The Old New Thing” blog, Chen revealed that the...
TechRadar’s Microsoft Quiz 2026: Test Your Mastery of Windows, Office 365, Xbox, MSN, and Copilot
TechRadar published a 15-question Microsoft quiz on May 12, 2026, authored by Tom Bedford. The interactive feature invites readers to gauge their depth of Microsoft knowledge—a challenge that spans...
Microsoft's Nostalgia Copilot & Ugly Sweater: Brand Storytelling Meets Windows History
Microsoft's recent "Peak Debate" campaign, featuring a Nostalgia Copilot-themed ugly Christmas sweater, has sparked significant discussion among Windows enthusiasts and industry observers. This...
OS/2 for Mach 20: Microsoft's Forgotten Hardware-Locked OS Experiment
In the mid-1980s, while Microsoft was developing what would become Windows NT and collaborating with IBM on OS/2, the company quietly produced one of its most obscure operating system variants: OS/2...
Mach 20: Microsoft's Forgotten Hardware Flop That Cost Users $195
In the mid-1980s, as the personal computer revolution was gaining momentum, Microsoft ventured into hardware territory with one of its most obscure and commercially disastrous products: the Mach 20...
Cortana's Farewell Mirrors Microsoft's Trail of Ahead-of-Their-Time Windows Innovations
Microsoft’s June 2023 confirmation that it will stop supporting Cortana in Windows as a standalone app later this year is more than a footnote in tech news cycles—it’s a familiar coda for a...
Microsoft's Pivot to Cloud & AI: How Satya Nadella Redefined the Tech Giant
When Satya Nadella took the helm as Microsoft CEO in 2014, he inherited a company struggling to maintain relevance in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. The once-dominant software giant had missed...
Microsoft opens .NET Core and acquires GitHub, shifting from Ballmer’s Windows lock-in to cross-platform tools
The echoes of Steve Ballmer’s booming "Developers! Developers! Developers!" chant continue to reverberate through the halls of Microsoft’s legacy, but the backstory is far richer and more nuanced...
A Decade of Stellar Growth: Investing in Microsoft Stock from 2015 to 2025
Introduction Investing in technology stocks has proven to be one of the most rewarding strategies for long-term wealth building. Among tech giants, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) stands out as...
Windows 95 Setup Screen Recreated in 4K: A Digital Preservation Triumph
For many who lived through the computing revolution of the mid-90s, the sight of the Windows 95 Setup screen—a deep blue void punctuated by the iconic floating logo and stark white text—triggered...
Unveiling the Windows 7 Solid Color Desktop Boot Delay Bug
Introduction In 2009, Windows 7 was celebrated for its improved performance and user-friendly interface. However, an unexpected issue emerged: users who set a solid color as their desktop background...