Microsoft
Microsoft is a US software company. It was founded by Bill Gates. Microsoft produces the popular Windows operating system.
Contents
History
Inspired by the January cover of Popular Electronics magazine, friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft – sometimes Micro-Soft, for microprocessors and software – to develop software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer.
In 1980, the pair struck a deal to provide the operating system for IBM’s first personal computer. Microsoft released Windows in 1985, a year before moving its headquarters to Redmond, Washington. By the late 1980s, Microsoft was the world’s largest personal-computer software company.[1]
Products
Operating System
The Windows operating system (OS) is Microsoft's proprietary and primary software offering.
Applications
Microsoft produces the popular Word, Excel, SQL Server Management Studio. Initially branded Internet Explorer, Microsoft has long produced their own internet browser, which seen lackluster adoption. Internet Explorer was rebranded as Edge, and ships with the Microsoft Windows operating system, however adoption has remained relatively low compared to alternative browsers such as Chrome, Brave, and Safari.
Mobile
A Windows Phone was first launched in October 2010, in Europe and Australia, and on November 8, 2010, in the United States. It was developed by Microsoft as a successor to Windows Mobile and Zune, aiming primarily at the consumer market. It offered applications and functionality that rivaled existing phones made by Apple, Nokia, and Samsung. It included an app store and touch screen. Development utilized C# and .Net framework for mobile using XAML layouts to design interactive interfaces.
The product's sales volume was seen as low and the mobile product was eventually abandoned.
