Artifact Details

Title

Guide to the Dennis Austin PowerPoint records

Catalog Number

102733943

Type

Document

Description

The Dennis Austin PowerPoint records contain materials documenting the design and development of the slide show presentation software, PowerPoint. The bulk of the collection is from 1986 to 1994 during the time that Dennis Austin was working as a software developer on what became PowerPoint, first at Forethought, Inc. and then at Microsoft after Forethought was purchased by Microsoft in 1987. The records in this collection include Dennis Austin’s notes and design drawings, PowerPoint source code, program and feature descriptions, correspondence, user’s manuals, promotional materials, and business records from Forethought and Microsoft's Graphics Business Unit (GBU). PowerPoint has been included with Microsoft Office from Office’s first release in 1990. Dennis Austin had an important role in PowerPoint’s design and growth and his records form a unique perspective on one of the most widely-used pieces of software in the world.

Date

1984-2007; bulk 1985-1994

Author

Doub, Bo; Hayden, Kim; Lott, Sara Chabino

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Extent

4.67 linear feet in 3 record cartons and 1 oversize box

Category

Finding Aid

Subject

Austin, Dennis; Computer programming; Computer software; Computer software design; Computer software--Development; Microsoft PowerPoint (Computer file); Source code (Computer Science)

Collection Title

Dennis Austin PowerPoint records

Credit

Gift of Dennis Austin

Lot Number

X6642.2013