However, the judge in the case essentially ruled that Microsoft could use its Windows monopoly to thwart its competition in the applications market. It was clear from an old memo that then-CEO Bill Gates had deliberately held back Windows 95 APIs needed by WordPerfect's developers and other wordprocessor makers to complete their applications for Microsoft's emerging operating system at the time, which featured an improved graphical user interface. Eleven jurors to one juror had decided the case against Microsoft. Novell finally lost an appeal in the case in September of 2013, following a hung jury verdict. There's also a technical reason for WordPerfect's loss of market share, which dragged on through the U.S. Shustek attributed the success of Microsoft Word for Windows to 'something extraordinary' in the program but he also pointed to Microsoft's marketing as a cause. 'By 1993 it was generating 50% of the word processing market revenue, and by 1997 it was up to 90%,' Shustek stated, in a blog post. However, the release of Microsoft Word for Windows changed that scenario. WordPerfect dominated the wordprocessor market for about 15 years. On the wordprocessing front, Microsoft did not achieve success with its 1983 release of Microsoft Word for DOS, Shustek noted. Seattle Computer Products later sued Microsoft for concealing its IBM relationship, resulting in a $1 million out-of-court settlement. Microsoft later retained the rights to license the OS to other PC clone manufacturers by paying an additional $50,000.

However, when Microsoft signed its contract with IBM, it didn't have such an OS to sell, according to an account by Len Shustek, chairman of the Computer History Museum.

The company developed MS-DOS for IBM after purchasing the rights to QDOS from Seattle Computer Products in December of 1980 for $25,000. Microsoft became a global corporation of 100,000-plus employees and $43 billion in revenue (as of December) largely through sharp dealing in its software licensing practices over the years. It's possible to download the code from the museum's Web site, although there's still a license agreement to approve first, which allows only noncommercial use. Microsoft donated the code of MS-DOS versions 1.1 (released in 1982) and 2.0 (released in 1983), as well the code for Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a (released in 1989). Source code for Microsoft's MS-DOS and Word for Windows programs is now publicly available via the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.

Microsoft word for dos free download