Microsoft has made available the source code for MS-DOS and Word for Windows to the public with the help of Computer History Museum. In a blog post, Roy Levin, managing director of Microsoft Research, said that the source code of the “1980’s, MS DOS 1.1 and 2.0 and Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a, to help future generations of technologists better understand the roots of personal computing.”
MS-DOS took origin in 1980, when IBM approached Microsoft to develop an operating system. Microsoft has released the first DOS-based version of Word in 1983 and followed with the release of Word for Windows in 1989. Word for Windows became a blockbuster for the company and generated over half the revenue of the word-processing market, within four years. These two programs changed the fortune of Microsoft.
“We think preserving historic source code like these two programs is key to understanding how software has evolved from primitive roots to become a crucial part of our civilization,” says Len Shustek, Computer History Museum Chairman.
SOURCE: Microsoft, Computer History Museum
