In 1986, Microsoft was developing new software to take advantage of Intel’s recently released 80836 microchip, which was significantly faster and more powerful than previous chips. Companies had already begun building computer hardware with the new chips, but there was not yet an operating system or other software specifically designed for them. As the developer of the MS-DOS operating system which ran most personal computers at that time, Microsoft was aiming to create a new operating system to maintain its leading position in software.

This image shows Gordon Letwin, the lead designer for systems software at Microsoft. About the possibilities of the new 80836 chips, Letwin said, “This is probably the biggest transition that’s happened yet. This is what we’ve been dreaming of all these years.”

Caption information source: “High-tech looks to Microsoft’s effect on the 80836 revolution,” by Carol Smith Monkman, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 31, 1986, page B5.