We all know what Microsoft is. It is that company that makes the operating systems for most computers, but is that all they do?
In this in-depth story about one of the biggest companies in the world, I’m going to introduce you to many facts and their beginning as not only Operating System (OS) creators but also company owners and their most beloved friends that share components with, don’t quite understand what I’m saying? Bear with me and keep reading!!!.
Overview:
Microsoft Corporation is a leading producer of software systems and applications for personal computers. The business also makes its own brand of hybrid tablet computers, publishes books and multimedia publications, provides email services, and markets electronic gaming consoles and computer peripherals (input/output devices). It has sales locations all around the world. Additionally to its primary R&D facility at its corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, the United States, Microsoft also maintains research facilities in Cambridge, England (founded in 1997), Beijing, China (founded in 1998), Bengaluru, India (founded in 2005), Cambridge, Massachusetts (founded in 2008), New York, New York (founded in 2012), and Montreal, Canada (founded in 2015).
Microsoft Origin:
In 1975, two childhood friends from Seattle, Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen, adapted the popular mainframe computer programming language BASIC for the Altair PC. Later, when Microsoft was established, it improved BASIC and created other programming languages. IBM requested that Microsoft make the necessary software for its first personal computer, the IBM PC, in 1980. MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) is the operating system that Microsoft acquired from another company, tweaked, and renamed. In 1981, MS-DOS debuted alongside the IBM PC. By the early 1990s, it had outsold competitor operating systems, including CP/M and IBM OS/2, with sales of over 100 million copies. Microsoft strengthened its stronghold in the operating system market with Windows, which had a sizable following by 1990. By the early 1990s, nearly 90% of all PCs and computers were using a Microsoft Operating System. Isn’t that crazy?
Incorporation to the Internet:
Microsoft, which initially found success in PC software, took a while to recognize the business opportunities offered by network systems and the Internet. It introduced Windows NT, a groundbreaking technology that enhanced PC stability and network security, in 1993. By 1996, Windows NT had surpassed Novell’s NetWare as the industry standard for computer networking. Before Navigator, a Web browser program from Netscape Communications Corp that streamlined the World Wide Web, was released (www, doesn’t it sound familiar?). Microsoft had not entered the Internet software market. Microsoft created Internet Explorer, which actively pushed computer manufacturers and Internet service providers to use it only. Microsoft began including Explorer with Windows OS in 1996. (The picture depicted above is the Internet Explorer’s logo).
Has Microsoft always been a clean and/or perfect company?
The answer is no because after Netscape claimed that Microsoft had broken the terms of its 1995 consent decree, the company was faced with legal issues. A thorough investigation was resumed by the Justice Department, which resulted in a 1999 trial and the company’s dissolution. Despite overturning the split decision in 2001, an appeals court found Microsoft guilty of illegally attempting to maintain a monopoly. In retribution for Microsoft’s near-monopoly actions, the European Union (EU) levied the highest penalties in the company’s history against Microsoft in 2004: €497.2 million ($611 million). Due to Microsoft’s defiance of the EU’s 2004 antitrust ruling against the company for improperly bundling multimedia software with its Windows operating system, the EU issued an even more significant fine in 2008 of €899 million ($1.35 billion). It is a good thing that Microsoft fought for itself because imagine a world without Microsoft’s inventions.
Microsoft’s debut into the gaming industry:
With its electronic game device, Microsoft’s Xbox, which debuted in 2001, swiftly increased its market share. Xbox Live, a broadband gaming network for its consoles, was debuted in 2002. After the Xbox 360’s introduction in 2005, Microsoft needed help maintaining revenues amid the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation competition. To increase market share in 2009, the business reduced the price of the Xbox 360 Elite by 25%. The Xbox 360 was American homes’ most popular gaming system by 2010. However, the Entertainment and Devices Division of Microsoft saw a 6% decline in revenue. The Xbox One replaced the Xbox 360 in 2013, and the Xbox Series X and Series S arrived in 2020. (The picture depicted above is an actual Xbox 360 and a bundle of the Forza Horizon 2 game, a highly respected and demanded car game series at that time and still today!).
It did and still has competition!
Google and Yahoo! failed to match Microsoft’s market dominance in the search engine space, which prompted the launch of Bing in 2009. Bing, a decision engine, sought to show more information in search results so users could make more educated judgments. Microsoft made a $44.6 billion acquisition bid for Yahoo! in 2008, but the offer was rejected. A deal was negotiated in 2009 in which Yahoo! would manage premium adverts for Microsoft’s website and use Bing for its website. Following the arrangement with Yahoo!, Microsoft licensed Wolfram Research’s search content.
Microsoft entered the cloud computing market and introduced Windows Azure in 2010 to compete with Google. Azure enables businesses or service providers to create computing infrastructure in the cloud and give it as a service to customers. A cloud-based version of Microsoft’s Office business software suite called Office 365, which included services and features akin to Google Docs, was released in 2011. The cost to acquire Skype from Microsoft was $8.5 billion, making it the most expensive purchase in company history. With Microsoft’s acquisition of the career-focused social networking business LinkedIn in 2016, the company made an even more significant acquisition.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, what did Microsoft do to get rid of its competitors? Buy them. As the worldwide saying goes: “If you can’t with your enemy, join them,” Sun Tzu, but in this case, Microsoft made them join their corporation. This is why Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies in the world; they make sure they use intelligence for every one of their moves. It is fascinating what money can do, right?.
