In the early 1980s, Gates led Microsoft's evolution from a developer of programming languages to a diversified software company producing operating systems and applications software as well as programming tools. This transition began in 1981 with Microsoft's introduction of MS-DOS, the operating system for International Business Machines Corporation's new Personal Computer (IBM PC). Gates persuaded other computer manufacturers to standardize on MS-DOS, fueling software compatibility and computer industry growth in the 1980s. Gates also pushed Microsoft to introduce application software, such as Microsoft Word word-processing software for the IBM PC.

In a key strategic move, Gates agreed to develop application software for the Apple Macintosh prior to the release of the first Mac in 1984. This was the beginning of strong position for Microsoft in applications that take advantage of the graphical user interface (GUI). Much of Gates's success rests on his ability to translate technical visions into market strategy, and to blend creativity with technical acumen.

He is one of the few founding CEOs from the technical side of the PC industry who has also survived and thrived on the business side. Gates has accumulated great wealth from his holdings of Microsoft stock and is known for his personal and corporate contributions to charity and educational organizations. Gates continues to be personally involved in product development at Microsoft. His willingness to back new technologies such as Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, and workgroup applications has kept Microsoft at the forefront of computer hardware and software evolution.

Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation, leading American computer software company. Microsoft was founded in 1975 by William H. Gates III and Paul Allen. The pair had teamed up in high school through their hobby of programming on the original PDP-10 computer from the Digital Equipment Corporation. In 1975 they collaborated on the first version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair, the first personal computer. This led to the formation of Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the same year.

In 1979 Gates and Allen moved the company to Redmond, Washington, a suburb of their hometown of Seattle. Allen resigned in 1983 due to health reasons, but has since rejoined the Board of Directors. Microsoft has grown from 15 employees and $500,000 in revenues in 1978 to over 20,000 employees and $5.9 billion in revenues for the fiscal year ending in June 1995.

In 1981 Microsoft took its first step in diversifying beyond the programming languages market when it released MS-DOS, the operating system for the original IBM personal computer (PC). Microsoft went on to convince other PC manufacturers to license MS-DOS, which made it the de facto software standard for PCs. Microsoft's collaboration with IBM throughout the 1980s created the world's first mass-market phenomenon in the computer industry based on the availability of computer chips, parts, and the MS-DOS operating system. The acceptance of MS-DOS as a software standard for the PC industry led to Microsoft's increasingly important role in the industry.

In 1991 Microsoft and IBM ended a decade of collaboration when they went separate ways on the next generation of operating systems for personal computers. IBM chose to pursue a former joint venture with Microsoft on the OS/2 operating system, while Microsoft chose to evolve its Windows operating system into increasingly powerful systems.

Microsoft announced Windows 3.0 in 1990, followed by Windows 3.1 in 1992. Windows NT, an operating system for business environments, was released in 1993. In August 1995 the Windows 95 operating system was released. To celebrate the debut of the new software, Microsoft held elaborate events at its Redmond, Washington headquarters and other locations throughout the world. An estimated 7 million copies of Windows 95 were sold worldwide within two months of its release.

Another significant aspect of Microsoft's business has been its application software business. In 1984 Microsoft was one of the few established software companies to develop application software for the original Apple Macintosh. Microsoft's early support for the Macintosh resulted in tremendous success for Microsoft's word processing and spreadsheet programs for the Macintosh.

When Microsoft later released Windows, its graphical operating system for IBM compatible personal computers, Microsoft's experience on graphical applications for the Macintosh led to success with Windows applications such as the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the Microsoft Word word processing program. Today, these applications are designed to behave similarly on Windows and the Macintosh.

Other product areas include local area network systems that link computers, and hardware such as the Microsoft Mouse pointing device. Microsoft has also expanded into publishing, through Microsoft Press, and into the development of database software, including Microsoft Access, and Fox Pro, and multimedia products that range from children's products to reference material.

In a rapidly expanding software market, Microsoft has been subject to allegations of monopolistic business practices. In 1990 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began investigating Microsoft for alleged anticompetitive practices, but was unable to reach a decision and dropped the case. The United States Justice Department continued the probe, which resulted in an agreement in 1994 that called for Microsoft to change the way its operating system software was sold and licensed to computer manufacturers.

However, in February 1995 a U.S. District judge refused to approve the agreement. Both Microsoft and the Justice Department appealed the decision. In March 1995 Microsoft announced a joint venture with DreamWorks SKG to launch a new company initially called DreamWorks Interactive. This company will concentrate initially on interactive multimedia entertainment programs.

In 1995 Microsoft launched the Microsoft Network (MSN), an Internet online service that provides Internet access and a variety of content, such as news, special-interest information, and reference material. Also in 1995, Microsoft and NBC formed a partnership to create MSNBC, a 24-hour news, talk, and information cable channel and companion Internet service. MSNBC was scheduled to debut in July 1996. In 1996 Microsoft reorganized some of its divisions to better enable it to develop products and technologies for the Internet.

Henry Ford

Ford, Henry (1863-1947), American industrialist, best known for his pioneering achievements in the automobile industry. Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, and educated in district schools. He became a machinist's apprentice in Detroit at the age of 16. From 1888 to 1899 he was a mechanical engineer, and later chief engineer, with the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893, after experimenting for several years in his leisure hours, he completed the construction of his first automobile, and in 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company.

Automobile Production
In 1913 Ford began using standardized interchangeable parts and assembly-line techniques in his plant. Although Ford neither originated nor was the first to employ such practices, he was chiefly responsible for their general adoption and for the consequent great expansion of American industry and the raising of the American standard of living.

By early 1914 this innovation, although greatly increasing productivity, had resulted in a monthly labor turnover of 40 to 60 percent in his factory, largely because of the unpleasant monotony of assembly-line work and repeated increases in the production quotas assigned to workers. Ford met this difficulty by doubling the daily wage then standard in the industry, raising it from about $2.50 to $5. The net result was increased stability in his labor force and a substantial reduction in operating costs. These factors, coupled with the enormous increase in output made possible by new technological methods, led to an increase in company profits from $30 million in 1914 to $60 million in 1916.

In 1908 the Ford company initiated production of the celebrated Model T. Until 1927, when the Model T was discontinued in favor of a more up-to-date model, the company produced and sold about 15 million cars. Within the ensuing few years, however, Ford's preeminence as the largest producer and seller of automobiles in the nation was gradually lost to his competitors, largely because he was slow to adopt the practice of introducing a new model of automobile each year, which had become standard in the industry. During the 1930s Ford adopted the policy of the yearly changeover, but his company was unable to regain the position it had formerly held.

Graphic Artists In America and Around the World

I know you can hardly compare The Internet Graphic Artists of America with the Bill Gates and Henry Ford's of the world but they are inventors just the same but in their own rights. Without them the internet would be nothing but a newspaper. Because of these talented people we can create personal web pages that dazzle and delight the eye. The graphics they provide allow us to express our individuality.

So yes! I'm including them in my project. The Graphic Artists of America and around the world ~ The new inventors and creators of this millennium. Thank you for all you do. My project may not receive a blue ribbon award but today I'm giving you an award for all you do. Thank you!!

Will Smith's Biography

I know Will Smith isn't a great American Inventor like those above but to me a kid of 14, when my whole world revolves around Music, he is to me. Will Smith is one of the coolest men alive, he's a great actor and rapper. Will was born on September 25, 1968 in Philadelphia, PA. Will is from my old hometown of West Philadelphia, Pa. Him and My real father went to the same school Overbrook High School. Of course my dad is 13 years older.

Will Smith earned the nickname "Prince" from his grade-school teachers because this mooth-talking tyke from West Philadelphia. Smith completed his nom de rap by tacking on "fresh" (a popular hip-hop adjective of the mid-eighties), and the Fresh Prince tapped his considerable charisma to become a Grammy-winning musician, the star of a long running sitcom, and returning to his birth name -a big-screen action hero.

A born entertainer, Smith started rapping at the age of twelve and shortly thereafter teamed up with Jeff Townes, who, as Jazzy Jeff, became the Fresh Prince's musical partner. Eight years later, the duo had produced two platinum albums, including the Grammy-winning He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. It featured the crossover hit single "Parents Just Don't Understand" and scads of clever, gangsta-free lyrics that elicited knowing chuckles from middle-American teenagers. With musical success achieved, Smith expressed a desire to try acting to several business associates, including Warner Bros. executive Bunny Medina. It turned out that Medina, who was born poor in Los Angeles but lived as a teen with a rich Beverly Hills family, had been unsuccessfully pitching a sitcom based on his demographically diverse life. Smith would be perfect, in this fish-out-of-water-tale--a modern Beverly Hillbillies. According to Hollywood legend, Smith read the script for NBC's suits with such élan that they bought the concept on the spot. Fresh Prince of Bel Air premiered in 1990, and with its well-timed quips and pratfalls from Smith, the successful show stayed on the air for six years.

Despite his homeboy swagger, Smith himself grew up middle class (his father is an engineer; his mother works for the school board) and did so well in school that M.I.T. offered him a scholarship, which he refused in order to pursue a show-business career. A millionaire by age eighteen, Smith was nonetheless deeply indebted to the I.R.S. when he landed the sitcom. Produced by Quincy Jones, the series' success enabled Smith to not only remedy his I.O.U.s, but also establish a well-connected professional family, which includes much of Hollywood's African-American royalty: Jones, Bill Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, Sidney Poitier, and Denzel Washington. In fact, it was Washington who counselled Smith on how to proceed with his first starring movie role, as a young gay con man in Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Although it was scripted that his character would kiss another man, Smith was reluctant. He sought counsel from Washington, whose advice boiled down to, "Don't be kissing no man." Smith informed the furious director, Fred Schepsi, that the homosexual smooch would have to be faked. When the movie opened, the controversy was smoothed over by critical praise for Smith's performance.

For his follow-up flick, Smith teamed with fellow sitcom star Martin Lawrence in the action-heavy, Bad Boys (1995). The buddy movie was a smash, Smith's asking price rose to $5 million per film, and offers poured in. He opted to play a heroic fighter pilot in the surefire blockbuster Independence Day (1996). Sadly, as the actor's stardom was growing, his three-year-old marriage to Sheree Zampino was falling apart. The couple divorced in December 1995, and Smith relinquished primary custody of their son William C. "Trey" Smith III. Smith is now engaged to Nutty Professor star Jada Pinkett, with whom he has been romantically involved since 1995.

Smith simultaneously returned to rapping and the sci-fi genre with the 1997 summer blockbuster Men in Black. The success of his "Men In Black" single seemed to inspire him: after wrapping the film, Smith ducked into the studio to lay down tracks for a new record. Big Willie Style, his first album in four years--not to mention his first without DJ Jazzy Jeff--landed on record-store shelves in November 1997. As for upcoming film roles, Smith will take on nasty, identity-besmirching government conspirators for next summer's Enemy of the State, the project he chose over Nicolas Cage's Snake Eyes; and he'll play the lead role in the upcoming John Singleton baseball drama Brushback.

(Much thanks to Mr. Showbiz for the great bio)