History of Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft is a multinational computer technology
corporation. The history of Microsoft
began on April 4, 1975, when it was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque.[1] Its current best-selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.
Starting in
1980, Microsoft formed an important partnership with IBM that allowed
them to bundle Microsoft's operating system with computers that they sold,
paying Microsoft a royalty for every sale. In 1985, IBM requested that
Microsoft write a new operating system for their computers called OS/2;
Microsoft wrote the operating system, but also continued to sell their own
alternative, which proved to be in direct competition with OS/2. Microsoft
Windows eventually overshadowed OS/2 in terms of sales. When Microsoft launched
several versions of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, they had captured over 90%
market share of the world's personal computers.
The company has
now become largely successful. As of 2008, Microsoft has global annual revenue
of US$ 60.42 billion and nearly 90,000 employees in 105
countries. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.
Overview
Microsoft
Corporation (Microsoft) is one of the leading providers of software and storage
products and services. The company is engaged in developing, manufacturing,
licensing, and supporting software products worldwide. Microsoft also provides
consulting, and product and solution support services. Major software products
offered by the company include operating systems, server applications,
high-performance computing applications and software development tools,
business solution applications, information worker productivity applications,
and video games. It conducts its business through five reportable business
segments, namely, Clients segment, Server and Tools segment, Microsoft business
division segment, Entertainment and Devices segment, and Online services
segment. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond (Washington), the US.
William
Henry "Bill"
Gates III (born October 28, 1955)[3] is an American business magnate, philanthropist, author and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's
wealthiest people [4] and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009,
excluding 2008, when he was ranked third.[5] During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions
of CEO and chief software
architect, and remains
the largest individual shareholder, with more than 8 percent of the common stock.[6] He has also authored or co-authored several books.
Gates is one of
the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he
is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his
business tactics, which they
consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by
the courts.[7][8] In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a
number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various
charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.
Gates stepped
down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as
chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006,
Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft
to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates'
last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as
non-executive chairman.
Paul
Gardner Allen (born January 21, 1953) is an American business magnate, investor, real estate developer and philanthropist who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates. He is also the 57th richest along with Viktor Vekselberg and Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor (& family) who all rank the same with an
estimated wealth of $13 billion as of 2011. He is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., which manages his business and philanthropic efforts.
Allen also has a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio which includes
technology companies such as Evri and Gist, real estate holdings, and stakes in other
technology, media, and content companies. Allen also owns two professional
sports teams, the Seattle
Seahawks of the National
Football League (NFL),[2] and the Portland Trail
Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[3] He is also part-owner of the Seattle
Sounders FC, which joined Major League
Soccer (MLS) in 2009.[4] Allen's memoir Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of
Microsoft was released on April 19, 2011.
Allen
co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in Albuquerque,
New Mexico,
in 1975, and began marketing a BASIC programming language
interpreter.[6] Allen came up with the
original name of "Micro-Soft," as recounted in a 1995 Fortune magazine article. In 1980, after promising
to deliver IBM a Disk Operating System (DOS)
they had not yet developed for the Intel 8088-based IBM PC, Allen spearheaded a deal for Microsoft
to purchase a Quick and Dirty Operating System (QDOS) written by Tim Paterson who, at the time, was
employed at Seattle Computer Products. As a result of this transaction,
Microsoft was able to secure a contract to supply the DOS that would eventually
run on IBM's PC line. This contract with IBM was the watershed in Microsoft
history that led to Allen and Gates's fabulous wealth.[7]
Allen
was diagnosed with Hodgkin's
lymphoma in 1982. His cancer was
successfully treated by several months of radiation therapy. However, he did not return
to Microsoft and began distancing himself from the company.[7] Allen officially resigned
from his position on the Microsoft board in November 2000 but was asked to
consult as a senior strategy advisor to the company's executives.[8] He sold 68 million
shares of Microsoft stock that year,[9] but still owns a reported
138 million shares.[10]
MONETTE CALAMBA
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