What (who) is Microsoft's - definition
![In 1996, Microsoft released Windows CE, a version of the operating system meant for personal digital assistants and other tiny computers, shown here on the [[HP 300LX]].](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/300lx.jpg?width=200 "In 1996, Microsoft released Windows CE, a version of the operating system meant for personal digital assistants and other tiny computers, shown here on the [[HP 300LX]].")
![The west campus of the [[Microsoft Redmond campus]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Aerial Microsoft West Campus August 2009.jpg?width=200 "The west campus of the [[Microsoft Redmond campus]]")
![[[Apollo 11]] astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]] using a [[Microsoft HoloLens]] mixed reality headset in September 2016](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin tries out Microsoft HoloLens (29794543715).jpg?width=200 "[[Apollo 11]] astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]] using a [[Microsoft HoloLens]] mixed reality headset in September 2016")
![[[Windows 1.0]] was released on November 20, 1985, as the first version of the Windows line.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Microsoft Windows 1.0 pages2 3.jpg?width=200 "[[Windows 1.0]] was released on November 20, 1985, as the first version of the Windows line.")
![The [[Nokia Lumia 1320]], the [[Microsoft Lumia 535]] and the [[Nokia Lumia 530]], which all run on one of the now-discontinued [[Windows Phone]] operating systems](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Nokia & Microsoft Lumia devices.png?width=200 "The [[Nokia Lumia 1320]], the [[Microsoft Lumia 535]] and the [[Nokia Lumia 530]], which all run on one of the now-discontinued [[Windows Phone]] operating systems")
![CEO]] of Microsoft in February 2014.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Satya smiling-print.jpg?width=200 "CEO]] of Microsoft in February 2014.")
![Surface]] series of laplets by Microsoft](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/SurfacePro3.JPG?width=200 "Surface]] series of laplets by Microsoft")
![Microsoft's [[Toronto]] flagship store](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/TorontoMicrosoftStore8.JPG?width=200 "Microsoft's [[Toronto]] flagship store")
![[[Windows 8]] Launch Event in [[Akihabara]], Tokyo on October 25, 2012](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Windows 8 Launch Event in Akihabara, Tokyo.jpg?width=200 "[[Windows 8]] Launch Event in [[Akihabara]], Tokyo on October 25, 2012")
![Xbox]], graphically powerful compared to its rivals, featured a standard PC's 733 MHz Intel Pentium III processor.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Xbox-console.jpg?width=200 "Xbox]], graphically powerful compared to its rivals, featured a standard PC's 733 MHz Intel Pentium III processor.")
![The [[Xbox One]] console, released in 2013](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Xbox One Console Set.jpg?width=200 "The [[Xbox One]] console, released in 2013")
.svg?width=200 "1975–1980: First Microsoft logo, in 1975")
.svg?width=200 "1980–1982: Second Microsoft logo, in 1980")
![1987–2012: Microsoft "[[Pac-Man]]" logo, designed by Scott Baker and used from 1987 to 2012](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Microsoft logo (1987).svg?width=200 "1987–2012: Microsoft \"[[Pac-Man]]\" logo, designed by Scott Baker and used from 1987 to 2012")
Wikipedia
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft's best-known software products are the Windows line of operating systems, the Microsoft Office suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface lineup of touchscreen personal computers. Microsoft ranked No. 14 in the 2022 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue; it was the world's largest software maker by revenue as of 2022. It is considered as one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, Apple, and Meta (formerly Facebook).
Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by Windows. The company's 1986 initial public offering (IPO), and subsequent rise in its share price, created three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market and has made a number of corporate acquisitions, their largest being the acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in December 2016, followed by their acquisition of Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion in May 2011.
As of 2015, Microsoft is market-dominant in the IBM PC compatible operating system market and the office software suite market, although it has lost the majority of the overall operating system market to Android. The company also produces a wide range of other consumer and enterprise software for desktops, laptops, tabs, gadgets, and servers, including Internet search (with Bing), the digital services market (through MSN), mixed reality (HoloLens), cloud computing (Azure), and software development (Visual Studio).
Steve Ballmer replaced Gates as CEO in 2000, and later envisioned a "devices and services" strategy. This unfolded with Microsoft acquiring Danger Inc. in 2008, entering the personal computer production market for the first time in June 2012 with the launch of the Microsoft Surface line of tablet computers, and later forming Microsoft Mobile through the acquisition of Nokia's devices and services division. Since Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, the company has scaled back on hardware and has instead focused on cloud computing, a move that helped the company's shares reach its highest value since December 1999.
Earlier dethroned by Apple in 2010, in 2018 Microsoft reclaimed its position as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. In April 2019, Microsoft reached the trillion-dollar market cap, becoming the third U.S. public company to be valued at over $1 trillion after Apple and Amazon respectively. As of 2022, Microsoft has the fourth-highest global brand valuation.
Microsoft has been criticized for its monopolistic practices and the company's software has been criticized for problems with ease of use, robustness, and security.
