ODF vs. OOXML: War of the Words Chapter 3

“In 1980, Microsoft was a small software vendor that had built
its business primarily on downsizing computer languages created for
mainframes to a point where they could be used to program the
desktop computers that were then coming to market. In that year,
its total revenues were $7,520, 720, and BASIC, its first product,
was still its most successful. In contrast, Apple computer had
sales of $100 million in the same year, and launched the largest
public offering since the Ford Motor Company had itself gone public
in 1956.

“Moreover, years before Microsoft Word conquered the desktop,
word processing products like WordStar and WordPerfect became
popular PC-based tools, providing low-cost alternatives to the
proprietary minicomputer based software offerings of vendors like
Wang Laboratories…”

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