Microsoft's product portfolio includes countless products, but the company is also responsible for a number of inventions, among other things. Furthermore, some of them are so popular that most people don't know who actually invented them. Howtogeek.com portal speak about Microsoft's most puzzling inventions.
Comic Sans font
The infamous font was born in Microsoft offices more than 30 years ago. In 1994, graphic designer Vincent Connar saw an early version of Microsoft Bob and thought the font the tool used was too serious for an application intended to be the first introduction to Windows 95.
Connar wanted to come up with a bright, cheerful font that Microsoft's animated assistant Bob, a dog named Rover, would use to talk. The designer took inspiration from dialogue clouds in comics, specifically those used in Alan Moore's Watchmen. The idea was approved, the execution was perfect – but the timing was not right. Connar finished Comic Sans too late to be part of Microsoft Bob, so it first came to public attention in Microsoft 3D Movie Maker. And later it became part of Windows 95.
30 years have passed but Comic Sans is still one of the most controversial fonts. Objectively speaking, there is nothing wrong with it, but its use in serious contexts, such as formal documents and business correspondence, is considered a violation of business manners.
The tablet has dual touch screens
The first commercial tablet with dual touchscreens, the Acer Iconia 6120, went on sale in 2011; Toshiba had released the Libretto W100 a year earlier, but that device was classified as a laptop. But Microsoft developed its own tablet, Microsoft Courier, in 2009.
The project is the brainchild of Jay Allard, who was involved in creating Xbox and Xbox Live. In his vision, the Microsoft Courier was supposed to be a tablet for creators, and the two touchscreens would allow professionals to quickly execute their ideas – with their fingers or with a stylus. Courier runs on a modified version of Windows CE and, as planned, added Windows PC capabilities. But Microsoft management did not like the idea, especially Bill Gates, who believed that tablets did not fit into the broader Windows ecosystem.
Additionally, Microsoft has been working on a version of Windows for touchscreens; it later evolved into Windows 8 and RT. Courier was not part of the corporation's Windows 8 development plan, which is why the project was canceled in mid-2010.
Motion controllers do not have physical controls
The Wii was a huge success for Nintendo, largely thanks to the integration of motion controls into many great games. It is logical that other companies in the console market have tried to repeat its success. PlayStation has Move and Microsoft has Project Natal. Or, as everyone knows, Kinect.
While Sony didn't reinvent the wheel with Move, Microsoft moved the industry forward with Kinect. The camera allows controlling the game with one's hands and body without the need for any additional peripherals. The new product attracted more casual audiences to the Xbox 360, but unfortunately Microsoft's decision to include Kinect in the Xbox One package largely contributed to the platform's failure.
However, even though Microsoft stopped producing Kinect nearly 10 years ago, the camera is still a fairly advanced device that can be used for many different tasks.
Panorama
According to Microsoft itself, holoportation is a new type of 3D motion capture that allows you to recreate, compress and transmit high-quality three-dimensional models of people in real time. Furthermore, Azure Kinect devices are used for this – a slightly more advanced version of the old Kinect.
In other words, holoportation could lay the foundation for mixed reality communications, where conferences could use animated models of call participants instead of virtual avatars. But this technology is still in the early stages of development. Additionally, given the low popularity of mixed reality headsets like the Microsoft HoloLens and Apple Vision Pro, holoportation is unlikely to become mainstream in the near future.
Modern skill-based matchmaking in the game
That's right, Microsoft was the first to introduce a skill matchmaking algorithm, designed specifically for the game. Specifically TrueSkill, which appeared in Halo 3.
TrueSkill is unlike the typical Elo rating system, a popular rating technique used to calculate a chess player's skill. At least it's not the same because it calculates the player's skill much faster and works well in games with more than two players. Additionally, Elo represents skill as a single number, while TrueSkill uses two – the player's average skill and uncertainty.
