Defunct line of software applications and personal hardware products published by Microsoft
Microsoft Home
is a discontinued line of software applications and personal hardware products published by
Microsoft
. The Microsoft Home brand was first announced by Bill Gates in a presentation on October 4, 1993.
[1]
These applications were designed to bring multimedia to
Microsoft Windows
and
Macintosh
personal computers. With more than 60 products available under the Microsoft Home brand by 1994, the company's push into the consumer market took off.
Microsoft Plus!
, an add-on enhancement package for Windows, continued until the
Windows XP
era. The range of home software catered for many different consumer interests from gaming with
Microsoft Arcade
and
Entertainment Packs
to reference titles such as
Microsoft Encarta
,
Bookshelf
and
Cinemania
. Shortly after the release of
Microsoft Windows 95
, the company began to reduce the price of Microsoft Home products and by the rise of the
World Wide Web
by 1998, Microsoft began to phase out the line of software.
Titles
[
edit
]
Microsoft Home produced software for all different home uses and environments.
[1]
The products are divided into five categories: Reference & Exploration, Entertainment, Kids, Home Productivity and Sounds, and Sights & Gear. The category in which the product was divided is identifiable by the packaging. Generally, Reference & Exploration products have a purple base color, Entertainment has a black base color, Kids has a yellow base color, Home Productivity has a green color and Sounds, Sights & Gear products have a grey or red base color.
[
citation needed
]
Note that many applications were developed in conjunction with other reputable software and reference companies.
[
weasel words
]
For example, Microsoft Musical Instruments was developed with
Dorling Kindersley
.
[2]
Reference and exploration software
[
edit
]
Microsoft Home Reference products brought information to
Multimedia Personal Computers
- it was an effective way of presenting and exploring information before the
World Wide Web
became mainstream. These products were embellished with
hyperlink
navigation systems, which were relatively new at this time. Most of these products were released on
CD-ROM
, giving the software the ability to display high-resolution graphics and animations, and play high-quality waveforms and
MIDI
files. These products proved that personal computers would revolutionize the way that we find and explore information.
Name
|
Year of Release
|
Retail Price when New
|
Microsoft Encarta
|
1993?2009
|
US$99.95/CAD$139.95
|
Microsoft Encarta Africana
|
1999-2001 (Later merged into Encarta)
|
|
Microsoft Bookshelf
|
1987, 1992, 1994-2000
|
US$69.95/CAD$99.95
|
Microsoft Cinemania
|
1994-1997
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Automap Streets, Streets Plus (then Expedia Streets &
Microsoft Streets & Trips
)
|
1995-2013
|
|
Microsoft Automap Road Atlas (then Expedia Trip Planner &
Microsoft Streets & Trips
)
|
1995-2013
|
|
Microsoft AutoRoute Express (then
Microsoft AutoRoute
)
|
1995-2013
|
Microsoft Music Central
|
1996-1997
|
|
Microsoft Complete Baseball
|
1994-1995
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft Complete NBA Basketball
|
1994-1996
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft Complete Gardening
|
1996
|
|
Microsoft Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide
|
1996
|
|
Microsoft Oceans
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft 500 Nations (North American Indian tribes and civilizations)
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft World of Flight
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft Ancient Lands
|
1994
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Dinosaurs
|
1993
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Dangerous Creatures
|
1994
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Dogs
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft Musical Instruments
|
1992
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot
|
1993
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Art Gallery
|
1994
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Wine Guide
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft Julia Child: Home Cooking with Master Chefs
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft The Ultimate Frank Lloyd Wright: America's Architect
|
1994
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Composer Collection
|
1995
|
US$79.95/CAD$109.95
|
Microsoft Multimedia Mozart: The Dissonant Quartet
|
1992?1995
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Multimedia Beethoven: The Ninth Symphony
|
1992?1995
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Multimedia Schubert: The Trout Quintet
|
1992?1995
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Multimedia Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
|
1992?1995
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Microsoft Multimedia Strauss: Three Tone Poems
|
1992?1995
|
US$59.95/CAD$79.95
|
Entertainment
[
edit
]
In the early 1990s, games on personal computers generally ran on the now obsolete
MS-DOS
operating system. However, with the introduction of Microsoft
Windows 3.1x
in 1992, Microsoft Home published several entertainment applications that implemented the new technologies of Microsoft Windows such as
DirectX
. Furthermore, these applications encouraged the
computer gamers
of the time to migrate from MS-DOS to Microsoft Windows. This transition permitted better use of computer graphics, revolutionized
game programming
and resulted in a more realistic gaming experience, compared to DOS gaming.
[3]
For example, Microsoft
Windows Entertainment Pack
Games have remained a classic for computer gamers, ever since their development in the early 1990s.
[4]
Name
|
Year of Release
|
Retail Price when New
|
Microsoft
Fury3
|
1995
|
|
Microsoft Hellbender (Sequel of
Fury3
)
|
1996
|
Microsoft
Deadly Tide
(underwater fighting machines)
|
1996
|
|
Microsoft Flight Simulator
|
1982, 1993-2006
|
US$49.95/CAD$64.95
|
Scenery Enhancements for Microsoft Flight Simulator Version 5.0:
- Microsoft Caribbean
- Microsoft Hawaii
- Microsoft Japan
- Microsoft Paris
- Microsoft New York
|
1995
|
US$34.95/CAD$49.95
|
Microsoft Golf
|
1993-2001
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft Golf Championship Courses:
- Mauna Kea Championship Course
- Banff Springs Championship Course
- Pinehurst Championship Course
|
1993
|
US$24.95/CAD$34.95
|
Microsoft Space Simulator
|
1995
|
US$49.95/CAD$64.95
|
Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack
|
1995
|
US$24.95/CAD$34.95
|
Microsoft Arcade
|
1993
|
US$34.95/CAD$44.95
|
Microsoft Return of Arcade
|
1996
|
|
Microsoft Revenge of Arcade
|
1998
|
|
Microsoft Pinball Arcade
|
1998
|
|
Kids
[
edit
]
The Microsoft Kids division produced
educational software
aimed at children in 1993. Their products feature a purple-skinned character named McZee who wears wacky attire and leads children through the fictional town of Imaginopolis, where each building or room is a unique interface to a different part of the software. He is accompanied by a different partner in each software title.
Tying in with the TV series, Microsoft
Scholastic's The Magic School Bus
was a highly successful series that continued to be sold after Microsoft Home's kids range of software turned into a subsidiary called
Microsoft Kids
.
Name
|
Year of Release
|
Retail Price when New
|
Microsoft Scholastic's
The Magic School Bus
: (This was a series of software based on the television series of the same name. The user had to solve puzzles based on science in order to complete the game.)
- Explores Bugs
- Explores in the Age of the Dinosaurs
- Explores Inside the Earth
- Explores the Human Body
- Explores the Ocean
- Explores the Rainforest
- Explores the Solar System
- Explores the World of Animals
|
1994-2000
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft
Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House
(A game designed by Gahan Wilson designed for kids to explore an eerie Haunted House populated by strange inhabitants.)
|
1993
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft
Creative Writer
and
Creative Writer 2
(
Word processors
released in 1994 and 1996 respectively aimed specifically at children).
[5]
|
1993
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft
Fine Artist
(Drawing program that looked and felt similar to Creative Writer.)
|
1993
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Ghostwriter Mysteries for Creative Writer
|
1995
|
US$19.95/CAD$29.95
|
P.J.'s Reading Adventures (Collection of three storybook adventures for children,
Paul Bunyan
,
How the Leopard Got His Spots
and
Koi and the Kola Nuts
.
[5]
)
|
1995
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft
3D Movie Maker
[5]
(Children-oriented program that allowed them to create their own movies using preset character animation and sounds)
|
1995
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker (Used characters from the popular
Nickelodeon
animated series)
|
1996
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft Explorapedia: (These were 2 interactive kids-oriented
encyclopedias
. It contained 400 articles accessed by clicking the appropriate picture in the environment.)
- The World of People
- The World of Nature
|
1995
|
US$49.95/CAD$69.95
|
Microsoft Plus! for Kids
(
Windows 95
Plus Pack for Kids)
|
1995
|
US$24.95
|
My Personal Tutor (Software-instructed learning for preschool to first grade)
|
1997
|
US$54.95
|
ActiMates
Toy characters and software titles based on
Barney & Friends
,
Arthur
, and
Teletubbies
|
1997
|
US$64.95 for TV Pack and PC Pack, US$34.95 for software titles.
|
Home productivity software
[
edit
]
Sights, Sounds & Gear
[
edit
]
Name
|
Year of Release
|
Retail Price when New
|
Microsoft Scenes screensaver and wallpaper program
- Sierra Club Wildlife Collection
- Sierra Club Nature Collection
- Undersea Collection
- Sports Extremes Collection
- Personal Collection
- Outer Space Collection
- Flight Collection
- Hollywood Collection
- Brain Twister Collection
- Stereogram Collection
- Impressionist Collection
|
1994
|
US$24.95/CAD$34.95
|
Microsoft Natural Keyboard
|
1994
|
US$99.95/CAD$129.95
|
Microsoft Mouse
|
1993
|
US$64.95/CAD$84.95
|
Microsoft
Windows Sound System
Version 2.0
|
1995
|
US$59.95/CAD$84.95
|
Microsoft Home Mouse
|
1995
|
US$44.95/CAD$59.95
|
Microsoft SoundBits (sound schemes)
- Microsoft SoundBits - Hanna-Barbera
- Microsoft SoundBits - Hollywood
- Microsoft SoundBits - Musical Instruments
|
1992?1994
|
US$24.95/CAD$34.95
|
Legacy
[
edit
]
Current products
[
edit
]
Discontinued products
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Microsoft Home Software Catalog Winter/Spring 1995 (from Microsoft The Ultimate Frank Lloyd Wright) 1194 Part No. 098-56862
- Microsoft Knowledge Base