Office version 1 for Windows used a graphical installer for the initial setup phases, but each app required installation separately and used a DOS-based interface. Forget about technologies like Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), which weren’t well established, although a pre-cursor called Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) was supported.īack in 1990, installing Office was an involved process. Neither do menus nor functions work the same across apps as they do today. The programs themselves were not well integrated as you can see below, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint don’t have the uniform interfaces as in later versions. The value of the early version of Microsoft Office was the price and having three powerful apps together. In 1990, Microsoft released a version for Windows, which bundled Word 1.1, Excel 2.0, PowerPoint 2.0. Included were Microsoft Word 4.0, Excel 2.2 and PowerPoint 2.01, and Mail 1.37. In 1989, Microsoft came up with the idea to offer Microsoft’s most popular desktop applications as a bundle called The Microsoft Office for Macintosh. Integrated packages were cheaper with essential features targeting budget users with particular needs, and they used fewer system resources. Suites, in particular, were more expensive but offered significant value by bundling popular applications that would cost upwards of $1,500 if bought separately versus $600 for the entire suite.

Suites and integrated packages targeted different users. Integrated packages included word processing, spreadsheet, database, and contact manager utilizing wizards to accomplish tasks like preparing a letter or a resume. Speaking of Works, an early attempt to this growing market started with integrated packages called Works. The success and popularity of new Office applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel eventually led to the introduction of the productivity suite market with competition from brands such as Novell WordPerfect Office, Lotus SmartSuite, and IBM Works. Microsoft made another attempt at the spreadsheet market with a new application called Excel, released in 1985, and Microsoft Word (1983), formerly called Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems – Microsoft’s initial distribution of the UNIX operating system. The success of Multiplan ended with the rise and dominance of Lotus 1-2-3, once a favorite spreadsheet app that has since faded into the history books – no pun. Microsoft’s entry into the applications market started with a precursor to Microsoft Excel called Multiplan, a spreadsheet application developed for computers running the CP/M disk operating system that was later ported to MS-DOS, Xenix, and the Macintosh. The history of the suite is of particular interest.

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