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History and Timeline of

PowerPoint was originally developed by Robert Gaskins for Apple's Mac OS and was called "Presenter". It was later acquired by Microsoft in 1987 and renamed to PowerPoint. PowerPoint 97 brought major upgrades like transitions and effects. PowerPoint continued evolving with new features and templates between 1998-2010 for both Windows and Mac versions. The latest versions are PowerPoint 2013 for Windows and PowerPoint 2011 for Mac. Mobile versions have also been released for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

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Jessica Fajardo Pechoco
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584 views

History and Timeline of

PowerPoint was originally developed by Robert Gaskins for Apple's Mac OS and was called "Presenter". It was later acquired by Microsoft in 1987 and renamed to PowerPoint. PowerPoint 97 brought major upgrades like transitions and effects. PowerPoint continued evolving with new features and templates between 1998-2010 for both Windows and Mac versions. The latest versions are PowerPoint 2013 for Windows and PowerPoint 2011 for Mac. Mobile versions have also been released for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Uploaded by

Jessica Fajardo Pechoco
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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History of PowerPoint

PowerPoint is one of the most widely used applications in the world and yet most people don’t even know about the
name of its developer or the fact that PowerPoint was not initially developed for Microsoft Windows but rather for
Apple’s Mac OS. It can be fascinating to explore the history of things we take for granted and PowerPoint is no different.
Let’s take a look at a history of PowerPoint and some amazing facts you probably didn’t know about MS PowerPoint.

Early Development

PowerPoint was developed by a former Berkeley Ph.D. student known as Robert Gaskins. His idea was to develop an
easy to use presentation program based on a series of slides. As is the case with most successful ventures, PowerPoint
had the most humble beginning from a place one wouldn’t have fancied as the best place to make the most
extraordinary presentation software of its time. Gaskins, joined a company named as ‘Forethought’ and began work on
PowerPoint by hiring a developer named Dennis Austin. The reason Forethought was not apparently the most ideal
place for such a venture was because it was a failing Silicon Valley company. It turns out it became the ideal place for
Gaskins to develop his software.

Initial Release For Mac And Acquisition By Microsoft

Originally designed for Apple’s Macintosh computers, the first version of PowerPoint was named “Presenter”, however,
the name had to be scrapped due to Trademark issues and was later changed to PowerPoint in 1987. The developers of
the initial release included Dennis Austin and Thomas Rudkin. The same year Microsoft bought the application for
$14million.
PowerPoint 97 Releases With Major Upgrades

It can be arguably said that what made PowerPoint as the most widely sought presentation app was its version 97
release. PowerPoint 97 brought new changes to the old version with major upgrades. Earlier versions had linear
presentations, whereas, the incorporation of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) language allowed users to invoke pre-
defined transitions and effects within a non-linear style, similar to a movie. The best part was that these transitions and
effects required no programming knowledge by the end user.
Evolution Of PowerPoint Between 1998 To 2010

From version 97 onwards, PowerPoint came up with new features and better templates which improved according to
the different UIs and graphics that were introduced with the passage of time. Before there was the Modern UI, who can
forget Windows 98 or Windows 2000 (especially if you are a child of the 90s), which now seems like a UI for a 16-bit
game. However, it was not only the UI but other major features that evolved PowerPoint with the passage of time,
including the improved Ribbon UI, better formatting tools, web integration, video and audio embedding features and
more. PowerPoint releases for Microsoft Windows between 1999-2010 included PowerPoint 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007
and 2010 , whereas, the Mac versions between 1998-2010 included; PowerPoint 1998, 2001, X, 2004, 2008 and 2011.

PowerPoint 2011 For Mac

The latest version of PowerPoint for Mac (till date) is version 2011. PowerPoint 2011 came with increased efficiency and
the ability to present presentations remotely, which was a feature geared towards professional users to help them
improve communication and reduce travel costs. This feature is known as Broadcast Slide Show and enables the
presenter to present presentations via the web, without the need for any other software.
PowerPoint 2013 For Windows

The latest version of PowerPoint for Windows is PowerPoint 2013, which is compatible with Windows 7 and the Modern
UI based Windows 8 operating systems. Other than compatibility with the conventional Office Suite, it also comes with
the tablet version of Windows 8 called Office RT. You can find out more about PowerPoint 2013 from these posts:

 New features Of Microsoft Office 2013


 Download Microsoft Office 2013 Free Trial
Timeline Of Windows Versions Of PowerPoint
Below is a timeline of PowerPoint versions for Windows based operating systems, with logos of the most compatible
versions of the Windows OS for the given versions of PowerPoint.

(Timeline Created With: Arrow Timeline Diagram PowerPoint Template)


Timeline Of Mac Versions Of PowerPoint
Below is a timeline of PowerPoint versions for Mac.

(Timeline Created With: Free Simple Process Timeline Chart Template for PowerPoint)
PowerPoint For Mobile Devices
Recently, Microsoft has released various mobile variants for MS Office applications, including; MS PowerPoint. You can
find out more about these apps from the following links:

 Official Microsoft App Released For Android


 Official Microsoft Office App Released For iOS
 Getting Started With Office Mobile For Windows Phone
 How To Install PowerPoint 2013 On Mobile Devices
 Nokia Asha 501: Now With MS Word, Excel And PowerPoint

The Irony Of PowerPoint


It’s quite an irony that Robert Gaskin’s PowerPoint attracted the first venture capital investment ever made by Apple,
however, after the release of the Macintosh version of PowerPoint in 1987, it became one of the most significant
acquisitions ever made by Microsoft. In fact, Microsoft even setup a business unit in Silicon Valley to further develop the
application and Gaskins headed the group for five whole years, further enhancing the PowerPoint application. 26 years
later, over one billion computers worldwide run PowerPoint.

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