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Microsoft Visitors Center

Redmond, Washington, United States

Some of the displays in the Microsoft Visitors Center

The Microsoft Visitors Center is located in Building 127 on the Microsoft campus. It's like a mini museum, and has everything you'd expect in a Microsoft visitors center.

One wall of the visitors center contains information about how Microsoft was started, and various artifacts from that time (such as Bill Gates' first business card). There is also a display that shows all the releases Microsoft has made since its inception. Another wall contains lots of other Microsoft artifacts, such as old boxes of software. There were a number of interactive exhibits in this part, such as "the history of Microsoft trivia" game.

The main area of the visitors center contains demos of current technology, such as Tablet PC's, Windows Vista, Zune's, and handheld devices running Windows Mobile 6 (at the time we visited - the exhibits in this section probably change relatively frequently).

There was yet another section that contained games - PC games, XBox 360 games, and there was even a room with two nice seats and a high definition TV where you could play Halo 3 (at the time of visiting).

There was a smaller section that contained "technologies of tomorrow", such as a large two-handed touch-screen navigation display (similar to the Microsoft Surface?), and 3D navigation displays.

Estimated Visiting Time

While you're here, why not play a game?

Depending on how excited you are learning about the history of Microsoft and their products, you may want to spent between 30-90 minutes here. Also be sure to include time to play some games!

Microsoft Company Store

There's even a private room with nice seats and a high-definition TV!

If you're lucky enough to be accompanied by someone that works for Microsoft, be sure to check out the Microsoft Company Store on the floor above the Visitors Center.