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Dennis Austin PowerPoint records X6642.2013
X6642.2013  
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Forethought, Inc. records, Series 1, 1984-1987

Language of Material: English

Scope and Contents

This series contains the business, design, and development records of Forethought, Inc., the company that first created PowerPoint before it was known as PowerPoint. Also included are records surrounding the initial design and development of the presentation software, first titled "Diagram" then "Presenter," and finally "PowerPoint." The records in this series most closely associated with the design of the software are written by Dennis Austin and other employees of Forethought, including Peter Bishop, Tom Rudkin, and Robert Gaskins. These records involve the general planning of the software as well as more specific design elements like user interface, slide design, specifications, cutting and pasting within Presenter, and drawing tools – including some of the source code associated with these topics. This series also includes some administrative records from Forethought including a business plan, product proposals, training sessions, and a letter from Apple Computer, Inc.'s Developer Technical Support team confirming Forethought's registration for the new file type and extension: .ppnt. This series is arranged chronologically.
 

102733911 Forethought, Inc. certificates, business plan, and product proposal 1984-1987

 

102733910 Forethought Presenter development 1985-1987

 

PowerPoint source code records, Series 2, Bulk, 1988 1985-1988

Language of Material: English

Scope and Contents

This series contains PowerPoint source code documents for Apple Macintosh dating from 1985 to 1988, with the bulk of materials from 1988. Code languages include 68000 and Pascal. Of particular interest are programming conventions, an explanation of the internal structure of PowerPoint in Macintosh Programmer's Workshop Pascal units, and notes on testing of Microsoft Windows modules. This series is arranged chronologically.
 

102733914 PowerPoint source code 1985-1987

 

102733912 Apple Macintosh PowerPoint 68k source code 1986-1987

 

102733913 Apple Macintosh PowerPoint Pascal source code 1988-05

 

PowerPoint versions, Series 3, 1987-1994

Language of Material: English

Scope and Contents

This series contains software development and design records organized by the different versions of PowerPoint. Most of the records in this series are written by Dennis Austin and appear in the forms of design drawings, software specifications, program and feature descriptions, correspondence, release schedules, and presentation materials. The series begins with records leading up to the release of PowerPoint 2.0 for the Apple Macintosh in 1988 and ends with the PowerPoint 4.0 releases for Windows and Macintosh in 1994. For the records covering the first release of PowerPoint in 1987, see Series 1, "Forethought, Inc. records." Many of the design notes for PowerPoint 2.0 focus on a more dynamic use of color in the software. PowerPoint 2.0 was also the first version of the software to be released for the Microsoft Windows operating system in 1990 (two years later than the version 2.0 release for the Macintosh). This shift to Microsoft Windows is also reflected in both the administrative and design records surrounding PowerPoint 2.0. A major feature represented in the PowerPoint 3.0 records is PowerEdit — the text editing engine used in PowerPoint. In the PowerPoint 4.0 records, the bulk of the records are milestone and review documents created within Microsoft's Graphics Business Unit (GBU). This series is arranged chronologically.
 

102733919 PowerPoint 2.0 development 1987-1990

 

102733921 PowerPoint 3.0 development 1988-1992

 

102733922 PowerPoint 3.0 development 1989-1991

 

102733920 PowerPoint 2.1 schedule and specification 1990

 

102733923 PowerPoint 4.0 development bugs 1992-1993

 

102733925 PowerPoint 4.0 design 1992-1994

 

102733924 PowerPoint 4.0 specification 1993-07

 

102733926 PowerPoint 4.0 review 1993-1994

 

Notes and correspondence, Series 4, 1985-1996

Scope and Contents

This series contains Dennis Austin's notebooks relating to PowerPoint's design, the administrative records of Microsoft's Graphics Business Unit (GBU), legal documents relating to a patent application, and general writings on software features that are not tied to specific versions of PowerPoint. The notes in this series are mostly handwritten or drawn by Dennis Austin in bound notebooks or loose, undated pages. These records also contain short program descriptions and email correspondence on topics including the use of AppleShare, an early file server and network service at Microsoft's GBU offices, and other writings on general principles of user interface. Of particular interest is a 1996 patent application for an invention by Dennis Austin and Anders Kierulf for a method of black and white printing of color documents. This series is arranged chronologically.
 

102733916 Contact lists, correspondence, and AppleShare at Microsoft 1985-1994

 

102733915 PowerPoint design notes 1986-1995

 

102733927 Microsoft Graphics Business Unit 1988-1996

 

102733917 PowerPoint user interface notes 1990-1994

 

102733918 Legal documents 1996

 

Promotional material, user's manuals, and ephemera, Series 5, Bulk, 1986-1995 1984-2007

Scope and Contents

This series contains user's manuals, advertisements, brochures and other promotional items, conference programs, 3.5” demonstration discs, and articles pertaining to PowerPoint from 1984 to 2007, with the bulk of materials from 1986 to 1995. The user's manuals are for both Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows versions of PowerPoint. Also included are manuals for FileMaker, Factfinder, and Xenix Mail. Articles in this series include Microsoft's purchase of Forethought Inc. in 1987 and reviews of PowerPoint after its releases. Of particular interest is a sales source book, which demonstrates how Microsoft marketed PowerPoint. This series is arranged chronologically.
 

102733930 Factfinder user's manual for the Apple Macintosh 1984

 

102733929 FileMaker user's manual for the Apple Macintosh 1985

 

102733940 FileMaker Plus user's manual for the Apple Macintosh 1986

 

102733934 Apple Macintosh Plus brochure : did you ever imagine you could come into power so quickly? 1986-01

 

102733937 Microsoft PowerPoint tutorial and demonstration 1987

 

102733941 PowerPoint user's manual for the Apple Macintosh 1987

 

102733932 Quick reference guide to Xenix Mail : communicating on the XENIX/UNIX multiuser operating system 1987

 

102733936 PowerPoint and Forethought articles 1987-1995; bulk 1987

 

102733939 Microsoft PowerPoint 1988

 

102733938 Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows step by step 1992

 

102733931 Microsoft PowerPoint source book 1992-09-25

 

102733942 PowerPoint double-spread magazine advertisements 1992-1994

 

102733935 PowerPoint promotional material 1992-2007

 

102733933 Apple worldwide developers conference 1994-1995

Collection Contents
Forethought, Inc. records,
PowerPoint source code records,
PowerPoint versions,
Notes and correspondence,
Promotional material, user's manuals, and ephemera,
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