What Is Microsoft?
Microsoft is one of the world’s largest technology companies, producing software and hardware that have shaped the computer industry. Its most recognizable product is Windows, the graphical operating system that runs more personal computers than any other. It’s also known for its Office suite of productivity software and Xbox gaming consoles. The company has diversified into cloud computing and mobile devices.
The company was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. It began with a variant of the BASIC programming language and later developed MS-DOS, an operating system that used commands to perform functions. In the 1980s, it released Windows, which offered a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse-driven mouse pointer for navigation. It became the dominant desktop operating system and made Gates a multimillionaire.
In the 1990s, Microsoft diversified into other areas of technology. It bought a number of companies, including the video game developer Activision and the search engine Bing. In the 2000s, it introduced the Xbox line of gaming consoles, which were graphically powerful compared to their rivals and made Microsoft an industry leader in the console market.
Microsoft also has a large business cloud platform called Azure, which offers computing, analytics, storage and management capabilities in the data center. It has integrated the Azure platform with on-premises Windows Server, so customers can migrate their applications to the cloud with little or no modification. It’s also working to make Azure compatible with other popular cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.
Another major area of focus for Microsoft is AI. It has developed a number of AI assistants that are designed to work with its applications and provide assistance for tasks like calendar scheduling or email composition. It’s also working on an ambitious project to develop a topological quantum computer that could perform calculations far faster than conventional machines.
As an international company, Microsoft has subsidiaries in most of the countries where it does business. These locations help the company harvest profits in local markets and funnel them back up to headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company also has a number of data centers worldwide to help its customers manage IT infrastructures and simplify workflows with System Center tools. These include System Center Operations Manager for centralized monitoring of IT infrastructures and System Center Orchestrator for simplifying data center workflows. It also has a range of security products, including the Active Directory Identity Protection service. This protects users’ identities by ensuring only authenticated users can access certain resources, helping to prevent data breaches and other cybersecurity threats. Microsoft also offers other security products and services, including cloud-based malware detection and response tools.
