By Thomas E. Weber

Without fanfare, 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Excel. Thomas E. Weber tracks down the program's developer and discovers how it almost didn't make it into stores—and the big idea Bill Gates lost forever. In a year when big names froExm the digital realm profoundly affected the world—Mark Zuckerberg or Julian Assange, take your pick—it's appropriate to add one more: Douglas Klunder.

While largely unnoticed, 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of perhaps the most revolutionary software program ever, Microsoft Excel, and Klunder, now an unassuming attorney and privacy activist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington state, gave it to us.

These days, with daily life so intertwined with the digital world, it isn’t hard to acknowledge the ramifications of a Facebook or a WikiLeaks. Back in 1985, though, most folks still couldn’t understand why they’d want a personal computer (“Maybe I can keep my recipes on it?”), let alone contemplate how software might alter the course of human events. Reagan was in the White House, Wham! had the year’s top song (“Careless Whisper”), and Microsoft had yet to go public.

Yet if you had to pick a technological development that has fundamentally altered society, you could do worse than Excel. Sure, PowerPoint gets all the laughs for its clichéd role in the corporate environment. But Excel is the program that has launched thousands of startups and justified millions of layoffs, planned out household budgets and charted the course for complex securities that almost took down the economy. For better or worse, it is the software that has given everyone the means to play with numbers and ask, “What if?”

For Doug Klunder, the mission 25 years ago wasn’t so grandiose. As lead developer of Excel, he was handed the job of vaulting Microsoft—then known best for MS-DOS, the operating system in IBM’s PCs—to the forefront in business applications. “We decided it was time to do a new, better spreadsheet,” recalls Klunder, now 50, who joined Microsoft straight out of MIT in 1981 (part of the interview process included lunch with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer at a Shakey’s pizza parlor).

By Rob Enderle
TechNewsWorld 
12/27/10 5:00 AM PT

Google was named Company of the Decade in August by an overwhelming majority in the United Nations. Said UN head Eric Schmidt: "Despite the rumors that this was due to our having access to all of the personal information on politicians everyplace, we earned this through hard work and perseverance." In related news, the UN was moved to Silicon Valley and renamed "Google NewWave."

Instead of looking back at 2010, I thought it would be fun this Christmas week to jump ahead in the Enderle Time machine and look back at 2020. It was an amazing year with new faces and old hitting the tech and political headlines.

Wikileaks, which had started printing tell-all books in order to get people to read what it put out in 2015, released the best seller Gay CEOs of Silicon Valley. Neither Mark Hurd nor Larry Ellison would comment, but Hurd's wife and a room full of Ellison girlfriends and wives were quoted as saying "duh!?!" 

 by David John Walker

REUTERS

NEW YORK: Another 17 US billionaires, including Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, have pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes in a philanthropic campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. A total of 57 billionaires now have joined The Giving Pledge, which was launched by Microsoft founder Gates and investor Buffett in June. The campaign announced the new pledges in a statement late on Wednesday. Gates, his wife Melinda, and Buffett have asked US billionaires to give away at least half their wealth during their lifetime or after their death, and to publicly state their intention with a letter. The Giving Pledge does not accept money or tell people how to donate their money but asks billionaires to make a moral commitment to give their fortunes to charity. Zuckerberg gave USD 100 million in September to the beleaguered public schools of Newark, New Jersey. In addition to Zuckerberg and Moskovitz, the world’s youngest billionaires,...

 By James Quinn 9:30PM GMT 20 Nov 2010

The Irish government has been given a stark warning from some of the biggest American companies in Ireland on the risk of a mass exodus if the country's low corporation tax rate is raised.  

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Executives at Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Intel ? spoke of the "damaging impact" on Ireland's "ability to win and retain investment" should the country's corporation tax rate be increased from 12.5pc.  Photo: EPA





...

In the San Francisco Bay area during the 1970s, a revolution was brewing. The emergence of an area dubbed "Silicon Valley" brought about a surge in technological development that changed the world forever. Two young innovators at the forefront of that revolution, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founded what eventually became Microsoft. Sensing a tremendous opportunity in the computer market, Gates dropped out of Harvard to pursue his dream -- no doubt a decision that changed the course of tech history.

Microsoft, of course, would come to dominate the personal computer market, making its founders billions of dollars in the process. Gates is counted as one of the wealthiest men in the world. So what does a billionaire do with the massive fortune he has accumulated?

by Ina Fried

In a car on his way to the airport, Gates spoke about his most recent efforts, including last week's announcement that around 40 wealthy American individuals and families had signed on to his Giving Pledge, agreeing to give half their wealth to charity. 

 NEW YORK | Wed Aug 4, 2010 12:34pm EDT

(Reuters) - A total of 40 U.S. billionaires have pledged to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth as part of a campaign by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Gates and Buffett launched "The Giving Pledge" in June to convince hundreds of U.S. billionaires to give away most of their fortune during their lifetimes or after their deaths and to publicly state their intention with a letter of explanation.

Here are some excerpts from letters written by billionaires taking the pledge:

* Laura and John Arnold, hedge fund manager: "We view our wealth in this light -- not as an end in itself, but as an instrument to effect positive and transformative change."

* New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing -- by far -- is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children. And by giving, we inspire others to give of themselves, whether their money or their time."

* Philanthropist Eli and Edythe Broad: "Those who have been blessed with extraordinary wealth have an opportunity, some would say a responsibility -- we consider it a privilege -- to give back to their communities, be they local, national or global."

* Investor Warren Buffett: "Were we to use more than one percent of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99 percent can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others."

* Microsoft founder Bill and Melinda Gates: "We have been blessed with good fortune beyond our wildest expectations, and we are profoundly grateful. But just as these gifts are great, so we feel a great responsibility to use them well. That is why we are so pleased to join in making an explicit commitment to the Giving Pledge."

* Hotel magnate Barron Hilton: "It is my hope that others are inspired by my father's story, and by our family's steadfast adherence to his charitable philosophy."

* Corporate executive Jon and Karen Huntsman: "It has been clear to me since my earliest childhood memories that my reason for being was to help others."

* Banker George Kaiser: "I had the advantage of both genetics (winning the 'ovarian lottery') and upbringing. As I looked around at those who did not have these advantages, it became clear to me that I had a moral obligation to direct my resources to help right that balance."

 By AMY-MAE ELLIOTT - July 20, 2010 (View Original Aritcle) 

This post was originally published on Mashable.com

Despite ever-increasing Mac sales, Microsoft still has an undisputed dominance over the computer industry.

With such a vast presence, much has already been written about Microsoft: its history, its products, even its former CEO Bill Gates. For those itching to know even more, we've dug up 10 snippets of info that you might not have heard before.

What experimental musician created the Windows start-up sound? How do they celebrate anniversaries? Does Microsoft have a “pest” problem? Have a read of our Microsoft-themed facts, stats and trivia and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

1. “Micro-soft's” first ever mention

The first ever mention of “Microsoft” was in a letter from Bill Gates to co-founder Paul Allen in 1975. Gates initially wrote the company name as Micro-soft, which made sense considering it's a portmanteau of “microcomputer” and “software.”

Losing the hyphen, “Microsoft” was officially registered as a company in November 1976 in New Mexico where Gates and Allen were working with their first major customer, MITS. Microsoft didn't move to its current campus in Redmond, Washington until 1986.

The Microsoft logo has changed several times over the years, the current “Pac-Man” logo was introduced in 1987, but previous to that was the “blibbet” logo that's pictured above. The “blibbet” refers to the stylised “o” and was apparently once the name of a burger served in the Microsoft company cafeteria.

2. Brian Eno composed “The Microsoft Sound”

Pioneering musician Brian Eno was the musical brains behind Window 95's start up tune, dubbed “The Microsoft Sound.”

The influential musician, who has worked with the likes of David Bowie and U2, told the San Francisco Chronicle that making such a short piece of music was “funny” and “amazing.” Eno likened the process to “making a tiny little jewel.”

Billionaire signs on to friend Bill Gates' challenge to give away fortunes