Over the past four decades, Microsoft has revolutionised the way we think and write. Tobias Schwartz / AFP
Over the past four decades, Microsoft has revolutionised the way we think and write. Tobias Schwartz / AFP
Over the past four decades, Microsoft has revolutionised the way we think and write. Tobias Schwartz / AFP
Over the past four decades, Microsoft has revolutionised the way we think and write. Tobias Schwartz / AFP

Opinion

Windows and beyond

Without Microsoft, which turns 40 tomorrow, the way that we think would be different

National Editorial

April 02, 2015

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Back in 1975, the way we interacted with each other, the tools of our trade, life itself, was radically different. This is not just the perspective of hindsight but a comment on the changes that have come about in the way we write, engage with the world, think. Microsoft revolutionised life with its user-friendly software. When the internet was developed to the point of mass use, it was Microsoft's Windows operating system that formed the core of the software that provided email systems, databases and other business applications. In many ways, the effect of this innovation has been on a par with the revolution that followed the Gutenberg printing press.

Our daily existence may not have altered much – we still have to work, shop, enjoy time off. But how we do each of these things now, with laptops, smartphones, iPods, iPads and the rest, would have been science fiction fantasy back in 1975. This has been a revolution and it was kick-started by Microsoft.

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