Dennis Austin, co-creator of Microsoft PowerPoint, dies at 76

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Dennis Austin, one of the co-creators of Microsoft PowerPoint, has died at the age of 76.

An Overview of the News

• Dennis Austin, along with Robert Gaskins, developed PowerPoint and introduced it in 1987.

• Austin and Gaskins were both part of the software company Forethought, which was later acquired by Microsoft for $14 million shortly after the launch of PowerPoint, which was originally named Presenter.

• Initially, PowerPoint was available exclusively for the Macintosh platform.

About Dennis R. Austin's career:

• Dennis R. Austin was the lead software developer of PowerPoint from 1985 to 1996, focusing on versions for Apple Macintosh computers.

• He began his career in the computer division of General Electric in Arizona, followed by positions at Honeywell in Massachusetts and Burroughs in California.

• In late 1984 Forethought, Inc. He became a software developer for Gavilon Computer.

• At Forethought, Robert Gaskins initiated the development of graphical presentation software that later became PowerPoint, with Austin as the lead developer.

• Tom Rudkin joined the PowerPoint project and made significant programming contributions along with Austin.

• Microsoft acquired Forethought in 1987, and Austin remained as the lead developer of PowerPoint until 1996.