In this special episode of Defrag Tools, following up on our most recent expeditions through the Microsoft Archives, Chad Beeder visits the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, and takes a hands-on trip through their extensive collection of Microsoft-related artifacts, with tour guide Aaron Alcorn.
Timeline:
[00:00] Welcome to the Living Computer Museum!
[02:40] DEC PDP-7 from 1964 - only working example of a PDP-7 in the world today.
[05:19] Bill Gates and Paul Allen in school: teletype connection to a GE mainframe
[07:10] MITS Altair 8800 running Microsoft's first product: Altair BASIC
[14:39] Gates and Allen didn't have an Altair to write software on - they had to make an emulator on a DEC PDP-10.
[15:55] ...Let's look at a PDP-10!
[18:10] You can connect online to the museum's mainframes and play with them yourself!
[19:26] Control Data Corporation 6500: Seymour Cray's $8 million supercomputer from the 1960s.
[23:29] Original IBM PC from 1981, MS-DOS 2.10 and Microsoft PC BASIC
[26:50] PC AT running Windows 1.0 with an original Microsoft Mouse
[29:49] Office Professional on many, many floppies - installing to your hard drive was an ordeal
[31:40] Windows 95! Introduction of the Start Button!
[33:40] Windows ME and Microsoft Bob - early ancestor of today's virtual assistants like Cortana and Siri
[36:14] Microsoft SoftCard (Microsoft's first hardware product: a Z80 processor card which enabled an Apple II to run CP/M)
[37:47] Microsoft Cordless Phone System - here's a TV commercial for it.(Note: Not compatible with Windows NT or Macintosh)
[42:05] Lots of other cool stuff to see! Check it out!
[44:43] Email us at defragtools@microsoft.com
Thanks to the Living Computer Museum for hosting us!
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11
