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Background of The Company

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 to develop software for early personal computers. It grew to become the largest personal computer software company in the world by the late 1980s. Microsoft introduced the Windows operating system in 1985 which used a graphical user interface. In 1995, Microsoft launched its Internet Explorer web browser to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Internet. The company faced antitrust lawsuits in the late 1990s from the U.S. Department of Justice for anti-competitive business practices but ultimately reached a settlement with the government in 2001.

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58 views2 pages

Background of The Company

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 to develop software for early personal computers. It grew to become the largest personal computer software company in the world by the late 1980s. Microsoft introduced the Windows operating system in 1985 which used a graphical user interface. In 1995, Microsoft launched its Internet Explorer web browser to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Internet. The company faced antitrust lawsuits in the late 1990s from the U.S. Department of Justice for anti-competitive business practices but ultimately reached a settlement with the government in 2001.

Uploaded by

Aifaa Arina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY

Microsoft is active in the production, licencing and support of a variety of software


products and services to satisfy various requirements. Steve Ballmer was named as the new
Microsoft CEO in 2000. Before he left, Bill Gates met Steve Ballmer at the University of Harvard.
While there was some doubt about the capacity of Ballmer, both in the company and personal
computer markets, Microsoft maintained its top position. The key strengths of Microsoft and the
bulk of its revenues were derived from the company side.

In order to develop software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer, Gates and
Allen introduced Microsoft, originally named Micro-Soft, for microprocessors and software. Allen
quit his work as a Boston programmer and Gates left Harvard University, where he was a
student, to concentrate on their new Albuquerque-based business because the city was home
to MITS, the manufacturer of the Altair 8800, an electronics company. Microsoft's revenues
amounted to more than $1 million by the end of 1978, and in 1979 the after being diagnosed
with Hodgkin's lymphoma, Allen left Microsoft in 1983.

Microsoft, the American technology corporation, hires nearly 163,000 employees


globally in full-time roles in all over 122 subsidiaries worldwide. Around 60% of the workers of
Microsoft are based in the United States, the company's home country. The employees are
spread out over four business units: operations which is manufacturing, distribution, product
support, and consulting services, research and development, sales and marketing, and general
and administration.

A new operating system, Windows, was introduced in 1985 by Microsoft with a graphical
user interface that included drop-down menus, scroll bars and other features. The company
moved its headquarters to Redmond, Washington, the next year, and went public at $21 a
share, earning $61 million. By the late 1980s, Microsoft, based on revenue, had become the
world's largest personal computer software corporation. In 1995, despite skyrocketing sales of
home and office personal computers, Internet use began during the second half of the 1990s,
and Microsoft launched its Internet Explorer web browser in 1995.

The U.S. in 1998 through using its dominance to force rivals out of business, the
Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys general accused Microsoft of breaching antitrust
laws; in 2001, the company signed a settlement with the government that placed limits on its
company practises. In 2001, with the launch of its Xbox console, Microsoft also entered the
video game market.

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