A Brief History of Microsoft
Microsoft is one of the most recognizable technology companies in the world. It is the largest vendor of computer software, and also a leading provider of cloud computing services, video games, and computer and gaming hardware. Its products have heavily impacted the technological landscape, and its company culture is well-known for its emphasis on hard work and attention to detail.
The company was founded on April 4, 1975, by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The company was originally called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, or MITS. It was later changed to Microsoft Corporation after the first letter of each word in the phrase “microcomputer system.” The company eventually moved to Washington state and became a publicly-traded corporation in 1986, making Gates the youngest billionaire at that time.
Today, the company has a worldwide presence with offices in more than 60 countries. Its most recognizable products include the Windows line of operating systems, the Office suite of business and consumer applications, the Internet Explorer web browser, and the XBox video game console. The company also has a strong foothold in the music industry with the Windows Media Player and in the search engine market with its Bing and Yahoo sites.
While the company has made a number of successful bets on various industries, it is most known for its monopoly status in the personal computer software market. This is mainly due to the company’s dominance in the market for PC operating systems, as well as its dominant position in desktop productivity applications. In addition, the company has expanded its business into other areas such as video game hardware, cloud storage, and online search services.
Despite the company’s many successes, it has faced its fair share of challenges. The biggest issues have revolved around the company’s antitrust and monopoly issues, as well as its anti-competitive behavior. In 1999, a judge found Microsoft in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordered it to break up into several smaller companies. This decision was overturned in 2001, but the company continued to face antitrust and competition concerns in the years that followed.
