Until the early 1990s, Microsoft focused on making software for business use rather than home users. However, in 1993, as personal computers became both cheaper and more versatile, the company decided to expand its consumer offerings under a new brand called Microsoft Home. The new products included a multimedia encyclopedia called Encarta and a collection of office programs such as word processing and spreadsheets called Works for Windows. Microsoft Home products were also intended to be easier to install and use, even for users unfamiliar with computers.

This image shows Charlotte Guyman, director of marketing for Microsoft's consumer division, in her office. Guyman said that many consumers saw Microsoft as focusing on high-end computer products meant for tech-savvy professionals, and that Microsoft Home was an attempt to change this view. For example, Microsoft worked with computer makers to create hardware/software packages "designed so that people can just take it home and use it." Guyman left Microsoft in 1999 and since then she has been a director at Berkshire Hathaway, served on the board of UW Medicine, and served as a trustee at Save the Children.

Caption information source: "Microsoft launches drive for expanded PC market," by Jim Erickson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 1, 1993, page E1.
Caption information source: "Alumna revives her Microsoft passion at Save the Children," by Monte Enbysk, Microsoft Alumni Network, retrieved from https://www.microsoftalumni.com/s/1769/19/interior.aspx?sid=1769&gid=2&pgid=252&cid=1773&ecid=1773&crid=0&calpgid=466&calcid=1401