“How Microsoft has impacted my life and how I plan to bring a change to the society being a Microsoft Student Associate”
The earliest memory I have of my journey with Microsoft started in junior high school. We had this computer lab period and there we were encouraged to learn how to doodle in MS PAINT, writing a letter in MS WORD and doing some programing in BASIC. I didn’t use MS PowerPoint until I was in senior years of my school life. But since then it has become the first tool I use in every presentation I need to give.
Before 2008 all I remember is the classic themed MS Office in our school (they didn’t upgrade to Word 2007 til then), the operating system called “Windows XP” (probably the reason I fell in love with computers). Also, then we didn’t have internet connection in our homes and doing homework without it was a real pain. Then one of my friend showed me (now discontinued) “MICROSOFT ENCARTA”… and I was mesmerized by its glossy look, the animated menus and the ability to search any topic and get sufficiently updated results without having an internet connection.
But after that time the world changed, I got a PC and it came with MS WORD 2007, with a completely overhauled look, those blue glossy redesigned menus… I just fell in love with it. How much in love!… I was so obsessed with using MS WORD that I decided to ditch making notes on notebooks and started making them on my PC with MS WORD 2007.
Given my love for writing blog post, there was “WINDOWS LIVE WRITER”, that I found to be immensely helpful. I loved writing in it and it had the ability to simply add pictures and embed videos and add customization very easily.
I was introduced to Visual Studio in my Senior Years of schooling and for the first time in my life I felt the power of actually making a software that ran on my PC. This feeling still lies inside me and is probably the driving force in my Windows phone Application Development. I bought a windows phone when all my friends were suggesting an Android phone with the sole purpose of indulging into App Development.
And this quest of App making wouldn’t have been successful if it wasn’t for MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network), an online repository of resources that has everything you might need for programming. Combined with visual studio, it give you ultimate power to shape things as you wish.
A very interesting thing I saw with VISUAL STUDIO was that even though it’s costly for individual person, Microsoft was kind enough to offer its Express edition free of charge and the Dreamspark program for educational institutions was a true expression of encouraging creativity.
The big change from Microsoft was the introduction of Windows Vista, even though everyone loathed how bad it was, I saw the superior look and wished of having it in my PC. With the launch of windows 7, it was Christmas for everyone, it ran on my old PC and the workflow was just unbelievable. Upgrading from Windows XP, it took me about an hour to figure out the basics of how to work with it.
My Laptop came with windows 8 and the metro look (which it was called earlier) just blew my mind. It was amazing. And again the best thing about Microsoft… they made it compatible with oldest versions of windows i.e. the programs made for older versions of windows could still run in windows 8.
Speaking of Internet is incomplete without mentioning Internet Explorer. I used IE6 in its heyday, and then I was introduced to IE7, a multi-tabbed browser with cleaner look. Before there was any Chrome, there was IE and that is a big thing. Even today I prefer to use IE11, why? Because unlike Google Chrome, they don’t look into your cookies to sell advertisement.
I switched from Gmail to Outlook a couple of years earlier and I never looked back. Outlook feels safe and with other cloud tools like OneDrive, Office, Calendar… it feels like home. My windows phone applications took me to Windows Azure – a service from Microsoft for cloud computing and seeing the power of Azure, I felt empowered to dream even bigger.
My goal for becoming an MSA
I wish to help the student community, the educators and the college in better understanding the industry. I intend to reach out to the student community and help them learn all the resources that Microsoft provides (like visual studio etc.) to them in form of technology and make them industry ready. If used properly, technology could be a great help in achieving a better learning and understanding experience. Microsoft provides all the resources needed to unleash the true potential of a student to the students. By being an MSA I intend to spread the awareness among the student community and make them use these opportunities to the fullest.
Final words
I feel that lives of millions of people were shaped by Microsoft, in true sense. And where I’m and where I will be… one way or another is affected by Microsoft.
A Caffeine Addict's Life! 