Version

Released
Date

PowerPoint Version Description

1

1988

Version 1, for the Macintosh and DOS was released.

2

1990

In May 1990 PowerPoint 2 for the Mac was released followed by in June PowerPoint 2 for DOS and Windows. Many of the Microsoft products were designed at the time to run under both DOS and Windows, however most of us would not have recognize today the Windows of the time.

3

1993

This was the first Microsoft product that required Windows. Specifically it required users to upgrade to Windows 3.1.

4

1994

Version 4 was released in the February of that year.

7

1995

Known as PowerPoint 95 this release was bundled with the Office 95 suite. This release probably represents the most significant step in PowerPoint's evolution as it was completely rewritten in C++.

8

1997

Known as PowerPoint 97, this was part of Office 97. The main change with this release related to the outline view.

9

1999

Known as PowerPoint 2000, this was part of Office 2000 offering. With no major changes introduced most users did not find the upgrade worthwhile.

10

2001

Known as PowerPoint 2002, this was part of Office XP. The release mainly offered usability improvements of which the most note worthy being the Slide Design task pane.

11

2003

Known as PowerPoint 2003, this is part of Office 2003 suite. The new features in this version are primarily focused on Smart Tag enhancements and the Package for CD / Pack and Go functionality. Most users will not find the upgrade worthwhile.

12

2006

Known as PowerPoint 2007, it looks as if the biggest benefit will be the ability to dress up presentations with a vast library of templates and image galleries. The interface will radically change, with for the first time Word, Excel and PowerPoint sharing a common look-and-feel.