We had some time, so we stopped by Microsoft's Welcome Center to check out their museum... It was pretty COOL!  Why the TRS-80?  It was the first computer I ever used.. it brought back memories to see one again...

Its hard to believe that Bill and Paul got the initial ideas for Microsoft while still in High School... after a couple of years of college, they decided that if they waited any longer, they'd miss the boat, so they both quit, and started a company that has changed the world.

The "Micro Kid" ad is the first printed advertisement for the (then) new company "Micro Soft". 

You've heard about the "Microsoft 11", the famous picture of the first 11 employees of Microsoft... but not many realize that it was really the "Microsoft 12"... :-)

 

Microsoft's first manual for its BASIC programming language included the actual phone numbers for Bill and Paul... "who would be happy to help you get through any difficulties".

Looking at pictures of them together, its hard to believe that Bill and Paul are only 2 years apart... Bill looks like a KID!  :-)

Surprisingly enough, they had a box for Microsoft Bob out there... an idea WAY ahead of its time, Bob fell by the wayside pretty quickly, and is STILL made fun of - even by Microsoft.

The ideas used in Bob, however, still are around, and are slowly becoming more and more prevalent as companies try to find improved ways to provide meaningful interfaces for users...

There were displays showing the major events in Microsoft, such as expanding to the Mac, and entering the global markets

The XBox 360 display was pretty impressive!

 
So was the Mobile phone display!  A whole wall of phones were set up to display a large image... it was pretty impressive!

The Zune display was pretty prominent, also... they've come a long way.

The little guy enjoyed looking around, taking in all the lights and colors... who knows... maybe one day he'll be a "Softie"...

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