Magid: Microsoft Turns 50

Fifty years ago, on April 4, 1976, Bill Gates and the late Paul Allen founded Microsoft. A half century later, it’s one of the world’s most valuable companies. And even though it’s based in Redmond, Washinton, it has a strong Silicon Valley presence.

The first PC

Its first product, released that July, was a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair computer. The Altair was generally recognized as the first personal computer.  It didn’t even have a keyboard or display.