Microsoft: something for everyone. (Comdex/Fall 1989)

Microsoft: Something for Everyone Comdex was ten years old this year, a fact that its promoters publicized well. (This was the eleventh annual fall Comdex; hence, the first one was ten years ago.) It is interesting to reflect that when Comdex was founded, the personal computing industry was fragmented; it supported a number of competing 8-bit technologies, many (but not all) incorporating a Basic interpreter written by a small Seattle-based startup known as Microsoft.

Over the years, Comdex has grown to become the country's largest trade show. Much of its success came because it focused primarily on the IBM PC-compatible marketplace. Ever since the IBM PC entered the scene, Comdex has served as a biannual barometer measuring the ups and downs of the industry's principal players. …