Microsoft Home

Logo

Microsoft Home is a defunct line of software applications and personal hardware products published by Microsoft. Microsoft Home software titles first appeared in the middle of 1993. 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 also announced at that time Microsoft Plus!, an add-on enhancement package for Windows, which was 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

Microsoft Home produced software for all different uses and environments. The products are divided into five categories: Reference & Exploration, Entertainment, Kids, Home Productivity and Sounds, Sights & Gear. The category in which the product was divided is identifiable by the package. 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. Note that many applications were developed in conjunction with other reputable software and reference companies. For example, Microsoft Musical Instruments was developed with Dorling Kindersley.

Reference & Exploration software

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.

Entertainment

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. 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. For example, Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack Games have remained a classic for computer gamers, ever since their development in the early 1990s.

Kids

Microsoft Kids Logo

The Microsoft Kids division produced educational software aimed at children during the 1990s. 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.

Home productivity software

Sights, Sounds & Gear

System Requirements

The system requirements for Microsoft Home software, by today's standards, is relatively modest.

Platforms

The Microsoft Home software series was designed to run on a variety of operating system platforms. The different platforms that have been implemented in Microsoft Home software include:

• Microsoft MS-DOS (e.g. for Flight Simulator 5.1)
• Microsoft Windows 3.xx (e.g. for Microsoft Entertainment Pack)
• Microsoft Windows 95/Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with win32s (e.g. for Microsoft Fury³)
• Apple Macintosh System 7 (e.g. for Microsoft Fine Artist)
• Apple MacOS 7.5 and above (e.g. for Microsoft Cinemania '96)

Media Configurations

Titles could come in several different media configurations:

• Single Media Software Package on Floppy Disk or CD-ROM (One set of media for a specific platform)
• Single Media Software Package with a Multi-Platform CD-ROM (One set of media for several platforms)
• Dual Media Software Package on Floppy Disk (Several sets of media for different platforms or densities)

Generally the floppy-disk software packages also include a disk order coupon for users of low-density floppy disk drives or 5.25" drives.

Recommended System Requirements

From Microsoft Home Software Catalog Winter/Spring 1995;

Multimedia PC

To run Microsoft CD-ROM multimedia products, you need:

• A Multimedia PC or compatible with a 386SX or higher microprocessor, 4 MB of RAM, minimum 2.5-5 MB of available hard disk space per product, CD-ROM drive, sound board, and Super VGA display capable of 256 colors.
• Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1 or later.
• MS-DOS operating system version 3.1 or later.
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
• Headphones or speakers.

Microsoft Windows-Compatible

To run Microsoft products for Windows, you need:

• Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or later.
• MS-DOS version 3.1 or later.
• 386SX microprocessor.
• 4 MB of RAM.
• High-density disk drive.
• Super VGA display capable of 256 colors.
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
• Sound board.

Microsoft MS-DOS-Compatible

To run Microsoft products for MS-DOS, you need:

• MS-DOS version 5.0 or later.
• 386SX or higher microprocessor.
• 2 MB of RAM (4 MB and expanded or extended memory recommended).
• High-density disk drive.
• Super VGA display capable of 256 colors.
• Microsoft Mouse of compatible pointing device recommended.
• Sound board recommended.
• Compatible with joystick.

Macintosh Series

To run Microsoft products for the Macintosh, you need:

• Any Macintosh computer with a Macintosh-compatible color monitor.
• 4 MB of RAM.
• System 7 or later.
• A hard-disk drive and one floppy-disk drive.

(CD-ROM drive required for multimedia products.)

• Compatible with joystick.

Sample System Requirements

Microsoft Scenes 2.0 Sierra Wildlife Collection - Wallpaper and Screensaver Manager Software
From the back of the box:
To use the Microsoft Scenes Sierra Club Wildlife Collection you need:

• Personal computer with a 386 or higher microprocessor
• 2 MB of available memory
• One 3.5" high-density (1.44 MB) disk drive and a hard drive with 3 MB available
• MS-DOS operating system version 3.1 or later
• Microsoft Windows operation system version 3.1 or later
• A VGA or higher-resolution monitor (256-color Super VGA monitor recommended)
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device recommended

Note: This package includes 3.5" high-density disks and a coupon for 5.25" high-density disks.

Legacy

Current products

• Microsoft Publisher is still available even today as a part of Microsoft Office.
• Microsoft Flight Simulator development was discontinued with the closure of ACES Game Studio. A replacement, Microsoft Flight, was later developed but subsequently also discontinued. However, the latest version of the original software was later made available via Steam.
• Microsoft Picture It! eventually became Microsoft Digital Image and was discontinued after the release of Windows Vista. Windows Photo Gallery, itself later discontinued, and its successor Photos include similar features.

Discontinued products

• Microsoft AutoMap later became Microsoft MapPoint and Microsoft Streets & Trips. This can be confirmed by "AutoMap" registry entries installed by these products. Both were discontinued in 2014.
• Microsoft Works was replaced by Office Starter 2010 which is available to OEMs for installation on new PCs only and does not include a replacement for the Works Database program. Office Starter 2010 was discontinued before Office 2013, which does not offer a similar edition, was released.
• Microsoft Encarta and Microsoft Money were discontinued in 2009, and no replacement products have been announced or released.

References