Microsoft – The Controversial Software Company
Microsoft is one of the largest computer software companies in the world. Its most well-known products include Windows and Office. The company also produces a range of hardware devices and cloud computing services. Its corporate headquarters are in Redmond, Washington.
A number of Microsoft blogs and other news outlets cover the latest software and technology from the company. These include the Microsoft Blog, the Windows Insider Blog, and the Microsoft Tech Community. The Microsoft Azure Blog is another source of product updates and news.
The company is a leading supplier of cloud computing services and has been the dominant player in desktop PC operating systems since the 1980s. Its business division has a wide range of productivity and collaboration tools and its gaming division is best known for the Xbox system and various game subscriptions. Its hardware division includes Surface computers and tablet devices.
In the past, Microsoft has been accused of using anticompetitive tactics and abusing its monopolistic power. It has been criticized for entering product categories that involve widely used standards and extending them with proprietary capabilities that strongly disadvantage competitors. It has also been accused of creating software that is hard to use without its associated programs, a practice known as vendor lock-in.
Some of the latest controversy surrounding the company has centered around its artificial intelligence research. It has invested in several start-ups, including the controversial DeepMind, which was developed by a team that included former employees of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Microsoft has publicly lectured about the responsible use of AI, but critics have accused the company of overusing it to promote its own products.
Despite its reputation for providing superior products, Microsoft has been criticized for mishandling security issues and underpaying its employees. It has also been accused of unfairly penalizing competitors through its search engine Bing, which it competes with Google for online search traffic.
The company has responded to some of the recent criticism by making changes to its policies and hiring more employees. However, many analysts have concluded that it has not done enough to stop its practices from damaging competition and consumer trust.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Harvard University classmates who worked together to develop a compiler for the Altair 8800, a primitive early personal computer. The pair later incorporated Microsoft, which is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and has offices worldwide. The company’s stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol MSFT. Its software products include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and other Office programs, as well as the popular Windows and Internet Explorer operating systems. The company’s Bing search engine and the Skype communication platform are other widely used products. Its Surface series of tablets and other hardware, as well as its Surface Pro laptops and HoloLens headset, are popular with consumers. The company’s corporate social responsibility efforts are focused on helping people and organizations achieve more.
