Microsoft was originally written as “Micro-Soft” when Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the company in 1975.
The name combined “microcomputer” and “software,” the two ideas at the center of their early business. Gates and Allen had just created a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800, a microcomputer sold by MITS. Their goal was to provide software for the emerging personal-computer market.
The hyphen was later removed, producing the single-word name Microsoft. The company was formally established in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where MITS was based. In 1979, Microsoft moved its headquarters to the Seattle area, first to Bellevue and later to Redmond.
The name is sometimes incorrectly described as an abbreviation of “microcomputer systems” or as a reference to Microsoft Windows. Windows came later, while the original name directly described the company’s focus on software for microcomputers. Microsoft became a public company in 1986.