What is Microsoft?
Microsoft is an American multinational computer technology corporation founded on 4th April 1975 by Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen. The company is the world’s biggest software vendor and also produces computer hardware, online services and video games. It is one of the most valuable companies in the world and has headquarters in Redmond, Washington, United States. The company has made a number of big-ticket acquisitions to diversify its product portfolio and expand into new markets. It owns LinkedIn, Nokia devices and services, Skype, Mojang, Hexadite and Github among others.
In the 1980s, Microsoft released a series of text editing programs that were popularised by their inclusion in the Office suite. These programs included Word, Excel and Powerpoint. These and subsequent releases of Office programs made computers more useful to business professionals and regular consumers. It was a major step towards the homogenisation of content creation and management software for PCs. The release of the Windows 95 operating system in 1995 bundled these software programs, as well as a word processor, email program and other software. Windows 95 included technologies to connect to the internet, which was just becoming widespread.
These successes and the company’s rapid rise to prominence led to it becoming the world’s most profitable corporation in the late 1990s. Its stock price soared and created billionaires and millionaires from its employees, as well as a number of smaller tech-related businesses.
The company has always maintained a clear position of dominance in the market for personal computer operating systems and office software, but it has expanded its presence into other areas such as gaming, the internet search industry, cloud computing and digital services, and smart phone development. It is one of the most valuable tech companies in the world and has a reputation for making big bets on potential future changes in their industry. Sometimes these bets fail (e.g. Zune), but the ones that succeed have made Microsoft hugely successful.
The company has a diverse workforce, with employees from more than 100 countries. There is a strong work culture of trust and collaboration, with open communication across the organization. Employees are given the opportunity to be creative and experiment with technology. It is a fun place to work, with a great campus, food and amazing people. The only downside is the weather, which can be challenging in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, this can be overcome by taking part in a variety of events and activities. There are also a range of benefits available to staff.
