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MicrosoftMicrosoft Corp. is one of the world's largest technology companies, best known for its Windows operating system and Office suite of productivity tools, which each run on over 1 billion devices. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company began by developing an interpreter—software that translates entered commands into a language a computer can execute—for the Altair 8800, the first commercially successful PC. A licensing deal with IBM in 1980 propelled Microsoft to dominate the PC operating system market with MS-DOS. It made personal computing more accessible with the release of the Windows graphical shell atop MS-DOS in 1985 and set the digital workplace standard with the release of Office for Windows in 1990. Microsoft began focusing on cloud computing with Azure, which, as of 2025, provides back-end infrastructure to about 20% of the internet. Since Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014, partnerships in AI and acquisitions in video gaming have further expanded Microsoft’s impact.Explore Microsoft

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In high school, Mark Zuckerberg rejected Microsoft's proposal to buy his music suggestion software for $950KMark Zuckerberg and Adam D'Angleo built a website called "Synapse," which created playlists for users based on their listening preferences and an algorithm to suggest new songs, in September 2002. The original 'four horsemen' of tech were Intel, Dell, Microsoft, and CiscoThese companies became known as the "four horsemen of tech" for the influence the companies had both on other businesses and investors in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The expansion of internet infrastructure throughout the 1990s and the dot-com bubble lifted these companies to incredible heights. CNBC Some viruses evade detection by altering their own code or hiding in Microsoft OfficeComputer viruses are often classified by how they spread or which files they infect, with the oldest ones—boot sector viruses—targeting systems that are active when a computer is turned on. Macros—custom codes in office productivity programs authored to automate tasks—spawned their own class of viruses. Buddy Company Microsoft was the most popular stock in hedge fund portfolios as of Q1 2024874 hedge funds held Microsoft stock at the time. This infographic shows more of the most popular stocks in hedge fund portfolios. Visual Capitalist Microsoft's initial successes came from promising products that did not yet existIn discussions with teams responsible for MITS's Altair 8800 and IBM's PC, Bill Gates and Paul Allen claimed to have created ready-to-use software. Code for the former was not completed until Paul Allen's flight to MITS' headquarters, where the software was successfully tested for the first time. ColdFusion Microsoft has integrated AI across its software products with CopilotIt utilizes an underlying model from OpenAI—makers of ChatGPT—to assist users in creating documents, writing code, locating files, and more across Windows, Microsoft 365, Bing search and WhatsApp on desktop and mobile devices. Copilot Voice and Vision offer accessibility features for users who prefer not to use mouse/keyboard navigation. PCMag From 1986 to 2024, Microsoft has acquired at least 277 companiesSome of these acquisitions helped the company expand into enterprise software and services, including Visio, which integrated diagramming software into Microsoft Office, and Hotmail, which provided an email platform to customers. Recent acquisitions of Mojang and Activision Blizzard underscore an increasing emphasis on the video game industry. Visual Capitalist View an illustrated history of Microsoft SolitaireIncluded in Windows 3.0 in 1990, to help first-time computer users become familiar with using a mouse, the game featured a dozen unique card back designs. The Windows XP library of preinstalled games added Spider Solitaire, which became the most-played game on Windows PCs by 2005. USA Today Explore an emulated demo of Windows 95 Microsoft Plus!The operating system went on sale on August 24, 1995, and was the first to feature the Start menu. Through this emulation, try your hand at Solitaire, 3D Pinball Space Cadet, and other classic Windows applications. copy.sh Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform serves customers in 140 countriesRather than owning and maintaining hardware on-premises, cloud computing enables users to access large reserves of storage and processing power over the internet, much like customers connect to a utility provider rather than generating their own electricity. This centralization also standardizes security tools and updates. Microsoft UK Microsoft developed the Xbox to compete with Sony’s all-in-one entertainment hardwareThe video game console originated as a side project between four DirectX developers, from whom the console's original name, "DirectX Box," derives. These developers sought to counter Sony's PlayStation product line, which they saw as capable of capturing all entertainment markets by playing games, CDs, and DVDs. XboxBG By 2005, Microsoft may have made as many as 12,000 millionairesStock options given to early employees also created four billionaires, including Bill Gates, who became the then-youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 31. As of 2025, Microsoft employs about 228,000 employees, including more than 50,000 at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Axios Microsoft Office debuted on the Macintosh in 1989Over 15 months before its debut on Windows, the suite included Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Mail—the precursor to Outlook. Bill Gates saw the Mac as a testing ground to work out bugs and gather feedback before the Windows release. Make Use Of Microsoft's Flight Simulator is one of history's longest-running software productsThe program originated from a master’s thesis project on generating three-dimensional graphics, which was later combined with flight equations. The first version ran on the Apple II in early 1980, but its creator licensed the program to Microsoft two years later, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Microsoft paid $50k for the foundation of the OS they licensed to IBMRather than write MS-DOS from scratch, Bill Gates purchased the full rights to QDOS—Quick and Dirty Operating System—from Seattle Computer Products only weeks before IBM’s PC hit the market. The IBM deal allowed Microsoft to license its OS to other manufacturers, ensuring it was not dependent on IBM’s long-term success. Medium The first smartwatch was made by Microsoft in 1994Coproduced by Timex, the Timex DataLink 150 featured a small LCD screen and could transfer data to and from a Windows PC. Like the Windows XP Tablet that launched in 2002, the smartwatch did not sell well, and both products are considered to have been released before their time. Tech25 As of 2024, server products and cloud services make up 40% of Microsoft’s revenueThese products generated $97.7B in the 2023-24 fiscal year, followed by office products and cloud services, which accounted for $54.9B during the same period. The fastest-growing revenue source was gaming at 39%, driven by sales of Xbox and first-party software. Visual Capitalist Bill Gates and Paul Allen were childhood friends before founding MicrosoftThe two bonded over a teletype terminal at their school, which required a $40 hourly fee for computing time. They were banned from using the device after exploiting a bug that allowed them to bypass the fee, only to be later offered free computing time for finding more bugs. Gates Notes In 1999, Microsoft and Intel’s addition signaled the information tech era for the DowMicrosoft and Intel became the first information technology firms added to the DJIA. Their inclusion marked a turning point—the digital revolution and tech began to drive the American economy. BBC News Microsoft Excel is used by over a billion people worldwideThe upstart computer software company Microsoft launched its columns-and-rows spreadsheet program in 1985, enabling users to sort information, create charts, and perform calculations with minimal friction. It would be coupled with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint in 1990 as part of the Microsoft Office for Windows. Witness History Microsoft’s 'Blue Screen of Death' was a symbol of computer crashes for over 30 yearsIn 2025, the symbol was replaced with a "Black Screen of Death" for improved readability and alignment with Windows 11's modern design. It became a pop culture symbol after appearing in Bill Gates' live tech demo of Windows 98. The New York Times Upgrade cost and compatibility issues have kept Microsoft's legacy systems aliveAs of 2025, Windows XP and Windows NT continue to power ATMs and transit systems, while Deutsche Bahn's trains use Windows 3.11 for display systems. Microsoft's continued support for these operating systems helps it maintain its dominance in the business sector. BBC Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi creates masterpieces using Microsoft ExcelUpon retiring, he wanted to get into art, but found the materials to be expensive. Since 2000, he has created art pieces using the line tool and other features the software provides before printing and taping together various spreadsheets that make up a completed work. Great Big Story Watch a first-person demo of Microsoft's HoloLensThe headset enables users to interact with projected objects in augmented reality by combining Windows Mixed Reality with eye- and head-tracking sensors, a hand-operated controller, and a microphone that can pick up voice commands. Jimmy Atom A pilot tries out Microsoft's VR flight simulatorJoin a flight instructor as he compares a Microsoft Flight Simulator with a real Cessna flight. YouTube ‘Eureka Park’ is CES' startup hub at Vegas’ famed VenetianFor years, new ventures looking for funding and a network appeared alongside established bigwigs like Microsoft and Sony at CES. In 2012, CES created “Eureka Park,” a part of the convention where startups could congregate (some viewed it as being sidelined at the time). Producers of hit reality show “Shark Tank” scout new startups in the park every year. CES The moment Bill Gates and the Rock announced the original Xbox at CES 2001At CES 2001, Bill Gates and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took the stage to unveil the original Xbox. This memorable moment marked Microsoft’s entry into gaming and set the tone for its console brand. CES A holoported medical team has been beamed into the ISSIn 2021, using the Microsoft HoloLens Kinect camera and custom Aexa Aerospace software, NASA's flight surgeon led a team of hologram doctors on a pioneering visit to the International Space Station, marking a significant advancement in communication and telemedicine technologies that will be crucial for future deep-space missions. Space Early testing of the US Army's mixed reality headsets made soldiers perform worseSoldiers involved in testing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System reported headaches, nausea, limited peripheral vision, and concerns about security due to the display backlighting, which could be viewed from hundreds of meters away. The difficulties led the Department of Defense to transfer the program's contract from Microsoft to Anduril Industries. National Defense Magazine Slick interfaces and bundling helped solidify Excel as the corporate planning toolFirst initiated in the 1980s, the Excel spreadsheet built off predecessors like Lotus and VisiCalc, leveraging a novel graphic interface to entice new customers and packaging the program with other Microsoft Office products. Forty years later, the tool faces challenges from Google and AI, but retains devoted users. Bloomberg Listen to the iconic Windows 95 startup soundThe jingle was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2025, and was commissioned by Brian Eno, the ambient musician, producer and visual artist. Ballyweg The Zune struggled with a limited music store, clunky software and poor timingIn 2006, Microsoft’s music player was released to compete with the iPod, which had been on the market since 2001. It was left to compete with iPhones after just a year. The device never achieved a market share of more than 10% before it was discontinued in 2011. The Verge The Majorana 1 chip may provide quantum computing using geometry-based qubitsTraditional quantum computers are incredibly fragile, with encoded information easily disrupted and requiring significant error correction systems. Microsoft’s approach involves storing data on a surface, which is more stable, but involves an elusive particle first theorized in 1938. Dr. Ben Miles The Rolling Stones were paid $3M to have ‘Start Me Up’ in the Windows 95 promoThe fee was part of Microsoft’s $300M advertising and promotional campaign for the operating system, which featured the Start button for the first time. The company also filmed sitcom-style infomercials featuring "Friends" TV stars Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry. The Pop History Dig Office Assistants, including Clippy, were digitally edited with Macintosh computersThe animated characters served as intelligent user interfaces for Microsoft Office and were sketched by hand before being scanned. Clippy was selected as the default assistant after social psychologists at Stanford University identified it as the most trustworthy, likable, and humorous character based on public testing. Great Big Story The default wallpaper for Windows XP, 'Bliss,' was taken in Sonoma, CaliforniaCaptured by National Geographic photographer Charles O'Rear in 1996, the photograph was uploaded to the stock image site Westlight in 1998, before being purchased by Microsoft. As of 2023, the hillside in the image is now home to rows of grapevines. Yahoo!'In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.'- Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen (1953–2018) Good Reads The Dow now tracks 30 major US companies across various industriesSince 1928, the DJIA has included 30 firms. Today's group spans technology, healthcare, and finance—with Apple, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, and Coca-Cola among its most recognized components. CNBC View a timeline of AI deployments from 2017 to 2025The development of transformer architecture and the release of GPTs across AI labs led to rapid changes in LLM scale and power. Companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Anthropic have invested billions of dollars to develop reliable, versatile models. Visual Capitalist Who are America's highest-paid CEOs?As of 2024, Apple's Tim Cook, Starbucks' Brian Niccol, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella were among America's highest-paid CEOs, each making tens of millions of dollars per year. Visual Capitalist Tokenization breaks text into pieces that LLMs use to process languageInstead of understanding the meaning of words, large language models break up sentences into words and subwords, assigning each a set of numbers called tokens. Grammar rules are then "learned" by finding associations between these sets of numbers. Microsoft OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called OpenAI 'the most capital-intensive startup in history'As of 2024, Silicon Valley was set to spend $1T in the coming years building AI. As companies, including Google and Microsoft, fling billions at AI dreams, concerns are rising about whether that money will ever be recouped. To learn about the argument that there is an AI bubble—and that it could soon burst if AI doesn’t prove its worth—read this article. Vox Nvidia pioneered the GPU industry via its origins as a video game companyFrom the mid-1990s to early 2000s, Nvidia carved out a niche as a maker of semiconductor chips specially designed for the video game industry. Nvidia broke through the competition to seal deals with TSMC and Microsoft, and popularized the term “graphics processing unit,” aka GPU. Acquired Many of the top companies in the US by market cap began as tech startupsCombined, the top seven companies by market cap in the US as of December 2024—Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla—were worth more than $16T at the time. 1440 Warren Buffett was famously anti-tech stock during the 1990s dot-com boomBuffett said that tech is something that Berkshire Hathaway doesn't "understand, so we don't invest in it." This philosophy led him not to invest in Yahoo or Microsoft during this time. (Some readers may experience a paywall.) WIRED Virtual and augmented realities are paving the way for a more immersive futureTech companies like Apple, Meta, and Microsoft invest heavily in immersive technologies such as virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. While VR transports users to a fully digital space and AR adds digital elements to the real world, mixed reality allows interaction with both at once. 1440 Mixed reality may help onboard manufacturing workers more efficientlyMixed reality headsets can facilitate hands-on education by providing immersive guides overlaid onto their field of vision, showing users how to complete complex tasks. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Mixed reality devices can turn digital information into 3D experiencesDescribed as "wearing a theme park on your face," devices like Microsoft's HoloLens project images into users' eyes so that their brains believe virtual objects are actually there. The bulkiness and physical limitations of existing headsets are expected to lessen over time, mimicking the evolution of early headphones. Same Same but Tech Malicious use of deepfakes can be found in scams, misinformation, and disinformationArtificial neural networks can identify an individual's physical characteristics when provided with training data, such as real footage of the person speaking. Graphics techniques overlay these with matching characteristics from another real or generated person to create novel footage of things that have never taken place in reality. Microsoft Efforts to find Majorana particles may finally lead to reliable quantum computersThough the particle—which is its own antiparticle—remains theoretical, scientists from Microsoft to Google continue developing systems to mimic this property towards building error-resistant quantum computers. Scientists at UCSB have been attempting to get the particle using just pencil lead and Scotch tape. Science

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