9.0 / September 28, 2007; 10 years ago ( 2007-09-28),, Website Microsoft Works is a developed by and sold from 1987 to 2009. Works was smaller, was less expensive, and had fewer features than or other major office suites. Its core functionality includes a, a and a. Later versions had a calendar application and a dictionary while older releases include a. Works was available as a standalone program, and as part of a namesake home productivity suite. Because of its low cost ($40 retail, as low as $2 ), companies frequently pre-installed Works on their low-cost machines. Contents • • • • • • • • • • History [ ] Microsoft Works originated as MouseWorks, an integrated spreadsheet, word processor and database program, designed for the Macintosh by ex-Apple employee Don Williams and Rupert Lissner.
Williams was planning to emulate the success of, a similar product for Apple II computers. However, Bill Gates and his Head of Acquisitions,, convinced Williams to license the product to Microsoft instead. Initially it was to be a scaled-down version of Office for the (then) small laptops such as the Radio Shack which Microsoft was developing. As laptops grew in power, however, Microsoft Works, as it was to be called, evolved as a popular product in its own right. On September 14, 1987, Microsoft unveiled Works for DOS. The initial version 1.x of Works ran on any PC with at least 256k of memory.
Works 2.x, introduced in 1990, required 512k and 3.x, introduced in 1992, 640k. In 1991, Microsoft issued the first Windows version of Works, titled MS Works for Windows 2.0 (there was no version 1.x). System requirements consisted of Windows 3.0, a 286 CPU, and 1MB of memory. Works 3.x in 1993 moved to requiring Windows 3.1, a 386 CPU, and 4MB of memory. Subsequent releases were for Windows 95 and up and the final version was Works 9.x in 2007, requiring Windows XP or Vista, 256MB of memory, and a Pentium 4 CPU.