History of Microsoft

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Microsoft.

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Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation. Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[1] Its current best-selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system; Microsoft Office, a suite of productivity software; Xbox, a line of entertainment of games, music, and video; Bing, a line of search engines; and Microsoft Azure, a cloud services platform.[2]

In 1980, Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM to bundle Microsoft's operating system with IBM computers; with that deal, IBM paid Microsoft a royalty for every sale. In 1985, IBM requested Microsoft to develop a new operating system for their computers called OS/2. Microsoft produced that 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.

As of June 30, 2015, Microsoft has a global annual revenue of US$86.83 billion (~$109 billion in 2023) and 128,076 employees worldwide.[3] It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ "Bill Gates: A Timeline". BBC News. June 15, 2006. Archived from the original on June 22, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  2. ^ "FY19 Q2 – Press Releases – Investor Relations". Microsoft. January 30, 2019.
  3. ^ "Microsoft 2014 Facts". Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  4. ^ "Microsoft 2005 Annual Report". Microsoft. Archived from the original (DOC) on October 8, 2005. Retrieved October 1, 2005.
  5. ^ "Fast Facts About Microsoft". microsoft.com. Microsoft Corporation. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on August 9, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  6. ^ MSFT Investor Relations (July 19, 2007). "Microsoft Fourth Quarter FY 2007 Earnings Release: Microsoft's Annual Revenue Surpasses $50 Billion". microsoft.com. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007.