25 Things About Microsoft

Everybody else seems to be doing a "25 Things" (I purposely have resisted), so why not Microsoft? But, of course, Microsoft would probably never do such a list, so I have. I offer my thanks to several contributors, including the independent analysts at Directions on Microsoft, who offered some excellent suggestions.

GOT A TIP OR RUMOR?

But you'll have to go to eWEEK slide show "25 Things You Didn't Know About Microsoft" for the complete list. Here I present three things—and by no means the best ones—to pique your curiosity and get your responses. No list of 25 items could possibly be comprehensive enough. So I ask you to provide additional "things" in comments or by e-mail.

Do you know something about Microsoft perhaps no one else knows—and it's verifiable and not hearsay? You could be famous, or infamous, by showing everyone your Microsoft smarts. If I get enough good items, I'll pull them together as a post of your things people didn't know about Microsoft.

Perhaps you know some juicy codenames or Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's shoe size. No "thing" should be left out. So c`mon, what do you know about Microsoft that most no one else does? Now, for those teasers:

Microsoft's Talisman Couldn't Make Magic
During Sissgraph 96, Microsoft showed 3-D film "Chicken Crossing" to demonstrate new graphics architecture called Talisman. The architecture was supposed to improve 3-D rendering on PCs. There was some trickery at work as Talisman really created the illusion of 3-D from tiled 2-D images. Microsoft had graphics and gaming ambitions for Talisman, which promised complex rendering on PCs costing hundreds of dollars instead of systems costing many thousands more. "Chicken Crossing" is comprised of 7,000 frames, which Microsoft rendered on PCs in real time. But Talisman, unlike the chicken, couldn't get to the other side of the road. Graphics card technology improved faster, rendering Talisman largely unnecessary. Microsoft officially abandoned the project by decade's end.

Microsoft Research rivals Some Universities for Ph.Ds
Microsoft's 18 year-old research division employs about 850 Ph.Ds. They study 55 areas of research, producing 5,100 peer-reviewed papers.

Microsoft Dropped the "Revenue Bomb" More Than 25 Years Ago
Charles Simonyi, who ran Microsoft's applications business in its early heydays, used a concept he called the "revenue bomb" to bring Multiplan to multiple platforms. At the time, early 1980s, Microsoft evaluated products it planned to develop along an axis against different computing platforms. Microsoft used a "p-code C Compiler" to quickly port Multiplan to most any computing platform. Microsoft wanted the software to quickly gain traction against the popular VisiCalc. But the company later, ah, dropped the bomb, as it proved unnecessary. Even before Microsoft could apply the strategy to other applications, the personal computing market started to rapidly consolidate around just two platforms: IBM PCs (and clones) running MS-DOS and Apple's Macintosh.

By the way, yesterday Charles blasted off on his second trip as a private citizen into space. He's head for the International Space Station.

[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at gmail.com.]