Microsoft

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Microsoft Corporation
Type Public (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Founded Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (April 4, 1975)[1]
Headquarters Redmond, Washington, USA
Key people Bill Gates, Co-founder and Executive Chairman;[2]
Paul Allen, Co-founder;
Steve Ballmer, CEO;
Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect
Industry Computer software
Publishing
Research and development
Computer hardware
Video games
Products Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Servers
Developer Tools
Business Solutions
Games[3] & Xbox[4]
Windows Live[5]
Windows Mobile
Zune[6]
Revenue ▲ US $51.12 billion (2007)[7]
Operating income ▲ US $18.25 billion (2007)[7]
Net income ▲ US $14.06 billion (2007)[7]
Employees 79,000 in 105 countries (2007)[8]
Website www.microsoft.com

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) (SEHK: 4338) is an American multinational computer technology corporation. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.[9][8] Microsoft's best-selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. These products have prominent positions in their respective markets, with market share estimates as high as 90% or more for Microsoft Windows as of 2006 and for Microsoft Office as of 2003.[citation needed] One of Bill Gates' key visions for the company is "to get a workstation running our software onto every desk and eventually in every home".[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Founded to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s. The company released an initial public offering (IPO) in the stock market, which, due to the ensuing rise of the stock price, has made four billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.[18][19][20] Throughout its history the company has been the target of criticism for various reasons, including monopoly status and anti-competitive business practices including refusal to deal and tying. The U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission, among others, have ruled against Microsoft for various antitrust violations.[21][22]

Microsoft has footholds in other markets besides operating systems and office suites, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse and home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune and MSN TV.[9] Known for what is generally described as a developer-centric business culture, Microsoft has historically given customer support over Usenet newsgroups and the World Wide Web, and awards Microsoft MVP status to volunteers who are deemed helpful in assisting the company's customers.[23][20] The company's official website is one of the most visited on the Internet, receiving more than 2.4 million unique page views per day according to Alexa.com, which ranked the site 18th amongst all websites for traffic rank on September 12, 2007.[24]

Contents

History

Main article: History of Microsoft
See also: History of Microsoft Windows

1975–1985: Founding

Following the launch of the Altair 8800, Bill Gates called the creators of the new microcomputer, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), offering to demonstrate an implementation of the BASIC programming language for the system. After the demonstration, MITS agreed to distribute Altair BASIC.[25] Gates left Harvard University, moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where MITS was located, and founded Microsoft there. The company's first international office was founded on November 1, 1978, in Japan, entitled "ASCII Microsoft" (now called "Microsoft Japan").[25] On January 1, 1979, the company moved from Albuquerque to a new home in Bellevue, Washington.[25] Steve Ballmer joined the company on June 11, 1980, and later succeeded Bill Gates as CEO.[25]

DOS (Disk Operating System) was the operating system that brought the company its first real success. On August 12, 1981, after negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft to provide a version of the CP/M operating system, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (PC). For this deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products, which IBM renamed to PC-DOS. Later, the market saw a flood of IBM PC clones after Columbia Data Products successfully cloned the IBM BIOS, and by aggressively marketing MS-DOS to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft rose from a small player to one of the major software vendors in the home computer industry.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32] The company expanded into new markets with the release of the Microsoft Mouse in 1983, as well as a publishing division named Microsoft Press.[25]

1985–1995: OS/2 and Windows

In August 1985, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a different operating system called OS/2.[33] On November 20, 1985, Microsoft released its first retail version of Microsoft Windows, originally a graphical extension for its MS-DOS operating system.[25] On March 13, 1986 the company went public with an IPO, with a starting initial offering price of $21.00 and ending at the first day of trading as at US $28.00. In 1987, Microsoft eventually released their first version of OS/2 to OEMs.[34]

The sign at a main entrance to the Microsoft corporate campus. The Redmond Microsoft campus today includes more than 8 million square feet (approx. 750,000 m²) and over 30,000 employees.
The sign at a main entrance to the Microsoft corporate campus. The Redmond Microsoft campus today includes more than 8 million square feet (approx. 750,000 m²) and over 30,000 employees.[35]

In 1989, Microsoft introduced its flagship office suite, Microsoft Office. This was a bundle of separate office productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.[25] On May 22, 1990 Microsoft launched Windows 3.0.[36] The new version of Microsoft's operating system boasted such new features as streamlined user interface graphics and improved protected mode capability for the Intel 386 processor; it sold over 100,000 copies in two weeks.[37] Windows at the time generated more revenue for Microsoft than OS/2, and the company decided to move more resources from OS/2 to Windows.[38] In the ensuing years, the popularity of OS/2 declined, and Windows quickly became the favored PC platform.

During the transition from MS-DOS to Windows, the success of Microsoft's product Microsoft Office allowed the company to gain ground on application-software competitors, such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3.[39][40] According to The Register, Novell, an owner of WordPerfect for a time, alleged that Microsoft used its inside knowledge of the DOS and Windows kernels and of undocumented Application Programming Interface features to make Office perform better than its competitors.[41] Eventually, Microsoft Office became the dominant business suite, with a market share far exceeding that of its competitors.[42]

In 1993, Microsoft released Windows NT 3.1, a business operating system with the Windows 3.1 user interface but an entirely different kernel.[39] In 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new version of the company's flagship operating system which featured a completely new user interface, including a novel start button; more than a million copies of Microsoft Windows 95 were sold in the first four days after its release.[39] The company also released its web browser, Internet Explorer, with the Windows 95 Plus! Pack in August 1995 and subsequent Windows versions.[43]

1995–2005: Internet and legal issues

In the mid-90s, Microsoft began to expand its product line into computer networking and the World Wide Web. On August 24, 1995, it launched a major online service, MSN (Microsoft Network), as a direct competitor to AOL. MSN became an umbrella service for Microsoft's online services.[25][39][44] The company continued to branch out into new markets in 1996, starting with a joint venture with NBC to create a new 24/7 cable news station, MSNBC.[39][45] Microsoft entered the personal digital assistant (PDA) market in November with Windows CE 1.0, a new built-from-scratch version of their flagship operating system, specifically designed to run on low-memory, low-performance machines, such as handhelds and other small computers.[46] Later in 1997, Internet Explorer 4.0 was released for both Mac OS and Windows, marking the beginning of the takeover of the browser market from rival Netscape. In October, the Justice Department filed a motion in the Federal District Court in which they stated that Microsoft had violated an agreement signed in 1994, and asked the court to stop the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.[25]

The year 1998 was significant in Microsoft's history, with Bill Gates appointing Steve Ballmer as president of Microsoft but remaining as Chair and CEO himself.[25] The company released Windows 98, an update to Windows 95 that incorporated a number of Internet-focused features and support for new types of devices.[25] On April 3, 2000, a judgment was handed down in the case of United States v. Microsoft,[21] calling the company an "abusive monopoly"[12] and forcing the company to split into two separate units. Part of this ruling was later overturned by a federal appeals court, and eventually settled with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2001.

In 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP, the first version that encompassed the features of both its business and home product lines. Before XP was released, Microsoft had to maintain both the NT and the 9x codebase. XP introduced a new graphical user interface, the first such change since Windows 95.[25][47] Later, with the release of the Xbox Microsoft entered the multi-billion-dollar game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo.[25] Microsoft encountered more turmoil in March 2004 when antitrust legal action was brought against it by the European Union for abusing its current dominance with the Windows operating system (see European Union Microsoft antitrust case), eventually resulting in a judgment to produce new versions of its Windows XP platform—called Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional N—that did not include its Windows Media Player, as well as a fine of €497 million ($613 million).[48][49]

2006–present: Vista and other transitions

In 2006, Bill Gates announced a two year transition period from his role as Chief Software Architect, which would be taken by Ray Ozzie, and planned to remain the company's chairman, head of the Board of Directors and act as an adviser on key projects.[50] Windows Vista, released in January 2007, is Microsoft's latest operating system and has sold 140 million copies to date.[51] Microsoft Office 2007, released at the same time, features a "Ribbon" user interface which is a significant departure from its predecessors. Relatively strong sales of both titles helped to produce a record profit in 2007.

On February 1, 2008, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to purchase internet services competitor Yahoo! for up to $44.6 billion,[52] though this offer was rejected on February 10. On May 3, 2008, Microsoft withdrew their offer.[53]

Microsoft announced on February 21, 2008 that it will share more information about its products and technology in order to make it easier for developers to create software that works with its products.[54] However, the European Union continued to demonstrate its dissatisfaction with the company for its lack of compliance with the March 2004 judgment and subsequently, on February 27, 2008 imposed an additional fine of €899 million ($1.4 billion), the largest fine in the history of EU competition policy.[55]

Product divisions

To be more precise in tracking performance of each unit and delegating responsibility, Microsoft reorganized into seven core business groups—each an independent financial entity—in April 2002. Later, on September 20, 2005, Microsoft announced a rationalization of its original seven business groups into the three core divisions that exist today: the Windows Client, MSN and Server and Tool groups were merged into the Microsoft Platform Products and Services Division; the Information Worker and Microsoft Business Solutions groups were merged into the Microsoft Business Division; and the Mobile and Embedded Devices and Home and Entertainment groups were merged into the Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division.[56][57]

Platform Products and Services Division

The current logo of Microsoft Windows, one of the company's best-known products.
The current logo of Microsoft Windows, one of the company's best-known products.

This division produces Microsoft's flagship product, the Windows operating system. It has been produced in many versions, including Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Almost all IBM compatible personal computers come with Windows preinstalled. The current desktop version of Windows is Windows Vista. The online service MSN, the cable television station MSNBC and the Microsoft online magazine Slate are all part of this division. (Slate was acquired by The Washington Post on December 21, 2004.) At the end of 1997, Microsoft acquired Hotmail, the most popular webmail service, which it rebranded as "MSN Hotmail". In 1999, Microsoft introduced MSN Messenger, an instant messaging client, to compete with the popular AOL Instant Messenger. Along with Windows Vista, MSN Messenger became Windows Live Messenger.[9]

Microsoft Visual Studio is the company's set of programming tools and compilers. The software product is GUI-oriented and links easily with the Windows APIs, but must be specially configured if used with non-Microsoft libraries. The current version is Visual Studio 2008. The previous version, Visual Studio 2005 was a major improvement over its predecessor, Visual Studio.Net 2003, named after the .NET initiative, a Microsoft marketing initiative covering a number of technologies. Microsoft's definition of .NET continues to evolve. As of 2004, .NET aims to ease the development of Microsoft Windows-based applications that use the Internet, by deploying a new Microsoft communications system, Indigo (now renamed Windows Communication Foundation). This is intended to address some issues previously introduced by Microsoft's DLL design, which made it difficult, even impossible in some situations, to manage, install multiple versions of complex software packages on the same system (see DLL-hell), and provide a more consistent development platform for all Windows applications (see Common Language Infrastructure). In addition, the Company established a set of certification programs to recognize individuals who have expertise in its software and solutions. Similar to offerings from Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Novell, IBM, and Oracle Corporation, these tests are designed to identify a minimal set of proficiencies in a specific role; this includes developers ("Microsoft Certified Solution Developer"), system/network analysts ("Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer"), trainers ("Microsoft Certified Trainers") and administrators ("Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator" and "Microsoft Certified Database Administrator").[9]

Microsoft offers a suite of server software, entitled Windows Server System. Windows Server 2003, an operating system for network servers, is the core of the Windows Server System line. Another server product, Systems Management Server, is a collection of tools providing remote-control abilities, patch management, software distribution and a hardware/software inventory. Other server products include:

Business Division

Front entrance to building 17 on the main campus of the company's Redmond campus.
Front entrance to building 17 on the main campus of the company's Redmond campus.

The Microsoft Business Division produces Microsoft Office, which is the company's line of office software. The software product includes Word (a word processor), Access (a personal relational database application), Excel (a spreadsheet program), Outlook (Windows-only groupware, frequently used with Exchange Server), PowerPoint (presentation software), and Publisher (desktop publishing software). A number of other products were added later with the release of Office 2003 including Visio, Project, MapPoint, InfoPath and OneNote.[9]

The division focuses on developing financial and business management software for companies. These products include products formerly produced by the Business Solutions Group, which was created in April 2001 with the acquisition of Great Plains. Subsequently, Navision was acquired to provide a similar entry into the European market, resulting in the planned release of Microsoft Dynamics NAV in 2006. The group markets Axapta and Solomon, catering to similar markets, which is scheduled to be combined with the Navision and Great Plains lines into a common platform called Microsoft Dynamics.[9]

Entertainment and Devices Division

The Xbox 360, Microsoft's second system in the gaming console market.
The Xbox 360, Microsoft's second system in the gaming console market.

Microsoft has attempted to expand the Windows brand into many other markets, with products such as Windows CE for PDAs and its "Windows-powered" Smartphone products. Microsoft initially entered the mobile market through Windows CE for handheld devices, which today has developed into Windows Mobile 6. The focus of the operating system is on devices where the OS may not directly be visible to the end user, in particular, appliances and cars. The company produces MSN TV, formerly WebTV, a television-based Internet appliance. Microsoft used to sell a set-top Digital Video Recorder (DVR) called the UltimateTV, which allowed users to record up to 35 hours of television programming from a direct-to-home satellite television provider DirecTV. This was the main competition in the UK for British Sky Broadcasting's (BSkyB) SKY + service, owned by Rupert Murdoch. UltimateTV has since been discontinued, with DirecTV instead opting to market DVRs from TiVo Inc. before later switching to their own DVR brand.[9]

Microsoft sells computer games that run on Windows PCs, including titles such as Age of Empires, Halo and the Microsoft Flight Simulator series. It produces a line of reference works that include encyclopedias and atlases, under the name Encarta. Microsoft Zone hosts free premium and retail games where players can compete against each other and in tournaments. Microsoft entered the multi-billion-dollar game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo in late 2001,[58] with the release of the Xbox. The company develops and publishes its own video games for this console, with the help of its Microsoft Game Studios subsidiary, in addition to third-party Xbox video game publishers such as Electronic Arts and Activision, who pay a license fee to publish games for the system. The Xbox also has a successor in the Xbox 360, released on 2005-11-22 in North America and other countries.[59][60] With the Xbox 360, Microsoft hopes to compensate for the losses incurred with the original Xbox. However, Microsoft made some decisions considered controversial in the video gaming community, such as releasing the console with high failure rates, selling two different versions of the system, one without the HDD and providing limited backward compatibility with only particular Xbox titles.[61][62] . In addition to the Xbox line of products, Microsoft also markets a number of other computing-related hardware products as well, including mice, keyboards, joysticks, and gamepads, along with other game controllers, the production of which is outsourced in most cases. As of 15 November 2007, Microsoft announced the purchase of Musiwave, Openwave's mobile phone music sales business.[63]

Business culture

Photo of Microsoft's RedWest campus.
Photo of Microsoft's RedWest campus.
Landscaping at Microsoft's RedWest campus
Landscaping at Microsoft's RedWest campus

Microsoft has often been described as having a developer-centric business culture. A great deal of time and money is spent each year on recruiting young university-trained software developers and on keeping them in the company. For example, while many software companies often place an entry-level software developer in a cubicle desk within a large office space filled with other cubicles, Microsoft assigns a private or semiprivate closed office to every developer or pair of developers. In addition, key decision makers at every level are either developers or former developers. In a sense, the software developers at Microsoft are considered the "stars" of the company in the same way that the sales staff at IBM are considered the "stars" of their company.[23]

Within Microsoft the expression "eating our own dog food" is used to describe the policy of using the latest Microsoft products inside the company in an effort to test them in "real-world" situations. Only prerelease and beta versions of products are considered dog food.[64] This is usually shortened to just "dogfood" and is used as noun, verb, and adjective. The company is also known for their hiring process, dubbed the "Microsoft interview", which is notorious for off-the-wall questions such as "Why is a manhole cover round?" and is a process often mimicked in other organizations, although these types of questions are rarer now than they were in the past.[65] For fun, Microsoft also hosts the Microsoft Puzzle Hunt, an annual puzzle hunt (a live puzzle game where teams compete to solve a series of puzzles) held at the Redmond campus.

As of 2006, Microsoft employees, not including Bill Gates, have given over $2.5 billion dollars to non-profit organizations worldwide, making Microsoft the worldwide top company in per-employee donations.[66] In January 2007, the Harris Interactive/The Wall Street Journal Reputation Quotient survey concluded that Microsoft had the world's best corporate reputation, citing strong financial performance, vision & leadership, workplace environment rankings, and the charitable deeds of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[67]

User culture

Technical reference for developers and articles for various Microsoft magazines such as Microsoft Systems Journal (or MSJ) are available through the Microsoft Developer Network, often called MSDN. MSDN also offers subscriptions for companies and individuals, and the more expensive subscriptions usually offer access to pre-release beta versions of Microsoft software.[68][69] In recent years, Microsoft launched a community site for developers and users, entitled Channel9, which provides many modern features such as a wiki and an Internet forum.[70] Another community site that provides daily videocasts and other services, On10.net, launched on March 3, 2006.[71]

Most free technical support available through Microsoft is provided through online Usenet newsgroups (in the early days it was also provided on CompuServe). There are several of these newsgroups for nearly every product Microsoft provides, and often they are monitored by Microsoft employees. People who are helpful on the newsgroups can be elected by other peers or Microsoft employees for Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status, which entitles people to a sort of special social status, in addition to possibilities for awards and other benefits.[20]

Corporate affairs

Corporate structure

The company is run by a Board of Directors consisting of ten people, made up of mostly company outsiders (as is customary for publicly traded companies). Current members of the board of directors are: Steve Ballmer, James Cash, Jr., Dina Dublon, Bill Gates, Raymond Gilmartin, Reed Hastings, David Marquardt, Charles Noski, Helmut Panke, and Jon Shirley.[72] The ten board members are elected every year at the annual shareholders' meeting, and those who do not get a majority of votes must submit a resignation to the board, which will subsequently choose whether or not to accept the resignation. There are five committees within the board which oversee more specific matters. These committees include the Audit Committee, which handles accounting issues with the company including auditing and reporting; the Compensation Committee, which approves compensation for the CEO and other employees of the company; the Finance Committee, which handles financial matters such as proposing mergers and acquisitions; the Governance and Nominating Committee, which handles various corporate matters including nomination of the board; and the Antitrust Compliance Committee, which attempts to prevent company practices from violating antitrust laws.[73][74]

There are several other aspects to the corporate structure of Microsoft. For worldwide matters there is the Executive Team, made up of sixteen company officers across the globe, which is charged with various duties including making sure employees understand Microsoft's culture of business. The sixteen officers of the Executive Team include the Chairman and Chief Software Architect, the CEO, the General Counsel and Secretary, the CFO, senior and group vice presidents from the business units, the CEO of the Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions; and the heads of Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Services; Human Resources; and Corporate Marketing. In addition to the Executive Team there is also the Corporate Staff Council, which handles all major staff functions of the company, including approving corporate policies. The Corporate Staff Council is made up of employees from the Law and Corporate Affairs, Finance, Human Resources, Corporate Marketing, and Advanced Strategy and Policy groups at Microsoft. Other Executive Officers include the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the various product divisions, leaders of the marketing section, and the CTO, among others.[75][9]

Stock

When the company debuted its IPO in March 13, 1986, the stock price was US $21.[76][77] By the close of the first trading day, the stock had closed at $28, equivalent to 9.7 cents when adjusted for the company's first nine splits.[77] The initial close and ensuing rise in subsequent years made several Microsoft employees millions.[19] The stock price peaked in 1999 at around US $119 (US $60.928 adjusting for splits).[77] While the company has had nine stock splits, the first of which was in September 18, 1987, the company did not start offering a dividend until January 16, 2003.[77][78] The dividend for the 2003 fiscal year was eight cents per share, followed by a dividend of sixteen cents per share the subsequent year.[78] The company switched from yearly to quarterly dividends in 2005, for eight cents a share per quarter with a special one-time payout of three dollars per share for the second quarter of the fiscal year.[78]

Around 2003 the stock price began a slow descent. Despite the company's ninth split on February 2, 2003 and subsequent increases in dividend payouts, the price of Microsoft's stock continued to fall for the next several years.[78][79]

Diversity

In 2005, Microsoft received a 100% rating in the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign, a ranking of companies by how progressive the organization deems their policies concerning LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) employees. Partly through the work of the Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft (GLEAM) group, Microsoft added gender expression to its anti-discrimination policies in April 2005, and the Human Rights Campaign upgraded Microsoft's Corporate Equality Index from its 86% rating in 2004 to its current 100% rating.[80][81]

In April 2005, Microsoft received wide criticism for withdrawing support from Washington state's H.B. 1515 bill that would have extended the state's current anti-discrimination laws to people with alternate sexual orientations.[82] Microsoft was accused of bowing to pressure from local evangelical pastor Ken Hutcherson who met with a senior Microsoft executive and threatened a national boycott of Microsoft's products.[83] Microsoft also revealed they were paying evangelical conservative Ralph Reed's company Century Strategies a $20,000 monthly fee.[84] Over 2,000 employees signed a petition asking Microsoft to reinstate support for the bill.[85] Under harsh criticism from both outside and inside the company's walls, Microsoft decided to support the bill again in May 2005.[86][85]

Microsoft hires many foreign workers as well as domestic ones, and is an outspoken opponent of the cap on H1B visas, which allow companies in the United States to employ certain foreign workers. Bill Gates claims the cap on H1B visas make it difficult to hire employees for the company, stating "I'd certainly get rid of the H1B cap."[87]

Logos and slogans

In 1987, Microsoft adopted its current logo, the so-called "Pacman Logo" designed by Scott Baker. According to the March 1987 Computer Reseller News Magazine, "The new logo, in Helvetica italic typeface, has a slash between the o and s  to emphasize the "soft" part of the name and convey motion and speed." Dave Norris, a Microsoft employee, ran an internal joke campaign to save the old logo, which was green, in all uppercase, and featured a fanciful letter O, nicknamed the blibbet, but it was discarded.[88]

Microsoft's logo with the "Your potential. Our passion." tagline below the main corporate name, is based on the slogan Microsoft had as of 2008. In 2002, the company started using the logo in the United States and eventually started a TV campaign with the slogan, changed from the previous tagline of "Where do you want to go today?."[89][90][91]

Microsoft "blibbet" logo, used until 1987.

Microsoft "Pac-Man" logo, designed by Scott Baker and used since 1987, with the 1994–2002 slogan "Where do you want to go today?"[89][90]

Microsoft logo as of 2008, with the current slogan "Your potential. Our passion."[90]

Environmental record

Fully 30 to 40 percent of global energy consumption is a result from the business sector.[92] Microsoft is certainly no exception with its large data centers and many campuses, but the company has also taken actions to become more environmentally friendly.[93] Some examples include:

  • Microsoft's newest building on its campus in Hyderabad, India was built as an environmentally friendly structure.[94]
  • Microsoft has phased out the use of polyvinyl chloride plastic in its packaging material, due to environmental concerns. Polyvinyl chloride, also referred to as PVC or vinyl, can release toxins into the environment during production and if it is burned after production. These toxins are synthetic chemicals that can be linked to cancer, and issues with the reproductive and immune systems. In six months time, Microsoft was able to eliminate approximately 361,000 pounds of polyvinyl packaging by transitioning to a packaging utilizing polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET). The company continues to research further eco-friendly packaging made of corn starch, sugar, and vegetable oil.[95]
  • Microsoft is using some renewable energy sources in its silicon valley campus, where the company has installed over 2,000 solar panels spanning 30,000 square feet on top of its buildings.[96] These panels supply 480 kilowatts of power, generating approximately 15 percent of the total energy needed by the campus and cutting the greenhouse gasses that would otherwise be produced to supply that power.[97]
  • Microsoft employs a free mass transit system for its 35,000 employees in the Seattle area and shuttles its workers with hybrid cars on its main campus.[98]
  • The company uses an irrigation system at its Redmond campus that senses upcoming weather changes, saving 11 million gallons of water per year.[99] The company has received a silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program for environmental design.[100]

Criticism

Main article: Criticism of Microsoft

Corporate

Since the 1980s, Microsoft has been the focus of much controversy in the computer industry. The majority of criticism has been for its business tactics, often described with the motto "embrace, extend and extinguish". Microsoft initially embraces a competing standard or product, then extends it to produce their own incompatible version of the software or standard, which in time extinguishes competition that does not or cannot use Microsoft's new version.[101] These and other tactics have resulted in lawsuits brought by companies and governments, and billions of dollars in rulings against Microsoft.[102][49][21]

Microsoft has been called a "velvet sweatshop" in reference to perks the employees enjoy, but also to allegations of the company working its employees many overtime hours. The first instance of "velvet sweatshop" in reference to Microsoft originated from a Seattle Times article in 1989.[103] As a Seattle career consultant described it, "they... stretch people to unbelievable limits. It's always push, push, push, and the stakes are constantly being raised." The term later came to be used by some of Microsoft's own employees.[104]

Free software proponents point to the company's joining of the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA) as a cause of concern. A group of companies that seek to implement an initiative called Trusted Computing (which is claimed to set out to increase security and privacy in a user's computer), the TCPA is decried by critics as a means to allow software developers to enforce any sort of restriction they wish over their software.

“ Large media corporations, together with computer companies such as Microsoft and Intel, are planning to make your computer obey them instead of you.”

Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation[105]

Advocates of free software also take issue with Microsoft's promotion of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and total cost of ownership (TCO) comparisons with its "Get the facts" campaign. Digital Rights Management is a technology that allows content providers to impose restrictions on the methods by which their products are used on consumer hardware; and subsequently, detractors contend that such technology may infringe on fair use and other rights, especially given that it restricts legal activities such as re-mixing or reproduction of material for use in slide shows.[106] The "Get the facts" campaign argues that Windows Server has a lower TCO than Linux and lists a variety of studies in order to prove its case.[107] Proponents of Linux unveiled their own study arguing that, contrary to one of Microsoft's claims, Linux has lower management costs than Windows Server.[108] Another study by the Yankee Group claims that upgrading from one version of Windows Server to another costs less than switching from Windows Server to Linux.[109]

Products

See also

Microsoft Portal
Companies Portal
Xbox 360 Portal

General

Microsoft

Lists

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Bill Gates: A timeline", news.bbc.co.uk, BBC News, 2006-06-15. Retrieved on 2007-08-15. 
  2. ^ Bill Gates. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  3. ^ microsoft.com/games/
  4. ^ microsoft.com/xbox/
  5. ^ help.live.com
  6. ^ zune.net
  7. ^ a b c MSFT Investor Relations (2007-07-19). "Microsoft Fourth Quarter FY 2007 Earnings Release: Microsoft’s Annual Revenue Surpasses $50 Billion". microsoft.com. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  8. ^ a b "Fast Facts About Microsoft". microsoft.com. Microsoft (2007-08-01). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Microsoft Corporation Annual Report 2005 (doc). Microsoft. Retrieved on 2005-10-01.
  10. ^ Quote from ComputerWorld 1985 (7/22); there is as yet no documented use of this vision statement prior to 1985. Gates' official bio asserts that he was 'Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home'.
  11. ^ Bishop, Todd. "The rest of the motto", Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 23, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-01-22. 
  12. ^ a b Thomas Penfield Jackson, U.S. District Judge (1999-11-05). U.S. vs. Microsoft findings of fact. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
  13. ^ Matthew Fordahl (2005-08-05). Beta version of Microsoft's Vista shows a lot of potential. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
  14. ^ Daisuke Wakabayashi (2006-12-01). Microsoft launches Vista version of Windows. Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  15. ^ Michael Kanellos (2006-01-18). PC market surged in 2005, will settle in 2006. CNET News.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  16. ^ Todd Bishop (2003-10-20). Microsoft unveils Office 2003. Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  17. ^ Patrick Thibodeau (2002-05-02). Can StarOffice Steal Users From Microsoft?. PC World. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  18. ^ Chapman, Merrill R., In search of stupidity: over 20 years of high-tech marketing disasters (2nd Edition), Apress, ISBN 1-59059-721-4
  19. ^ a b Julie Bick. "The Microsoft Millionaires Come of Age", The New York Times, 2005-05-29. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. 
  20. ^ a b c Hiawatha Bray (2005-06-13). Somehow, Usenet lumbers on. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
    * Microsoft Frequently Asked Questions. Microsoft (Most Valued Professional). Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
  21. ^ a b c United States v. Microsoft. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved on August 5, 2005. homepage at the United States Department of Justice
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Dow Jones Industrial Average companies
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Companies of the NASDAQ-100 index (As of May 19th 2008)

Activision · Adobe Systems · Akamai Technologies · Altera · Amazon.com · Amgen · Amylin Pharmaceuticals · Apollo Group · Apple Inc. · Applied Materials · Autodesk · Baidu · Bed Bath & Beyond · Biogen Idec · Broadcom · C. H. Robinson Worldwide · CA, Inc. · Cadence Design Systems · Celgene · Cephalon · Check Point · Cintas · Cisco Systems · Citrix Systems · Cognizant Technology Solutions · Comcast · Costco · Dell · DENTSPLY International · Discovery Holding Company · Dish Network Corporation · eBay · Electronic Arts · Expedia, Inc. · Expeditors International · Express Scripts · Fastenal · Fiserv · Flextronics · Focus Media Holding · Foster Wheeler Corporation · Garmin · Genzyme · Gilead Sciences · Google · Hansen Natural · Henry Schein · Hologic · IAC/InterActiveCorp · Infosys · Intel Corporation · Intuit · Intuitive Surgical · Joy Global · Juniper Networks · KLA-Tencor · Lam Research · Lamar Advertising Company · Leap Wireless International · Level 3 Communications · Liberty Global · Liberty Media Corporation · Linear Technology · Logitech · Marvell Technology Group · Microchip Technology · Microsoft · Millicom International Cellular · Monster Worldwide · NetApp · NII Holdings, Inc. · Nvidia · Oracle Corporation · PACCAR · Patterson Companies · Paychex · PetSmart · Qualcomm · Research In Motion · Ryanair · SanDisk · Sears Holdings Corporation · Sigma-Aldrich · Sirius Satellite Radio · Staples Inc. · Starbucks · Steel Dynamics · Stericycle · Sun Microsystems · Symantec · Teva Pharmaceutical Industries · The DirecTV Group · UAL Corporation · VeriSign · Vertex Pharmaceuticals · Virgin Media · Whole Foods Market · Wynn Resorts · Xilinx · Yahoo!
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Seattle-based Corporations (within the Seattle metropolitan area)
Seattle-based Fortune 500 Corporations (by size):
Washington Mutual • Amazon.com • Nordstrom • Starbucks • Safeco


Seattle-based Fortune 1000 Corporations (by size):
Companies listed above, plus: Alaska Airlines • Expeditors International • Plum Creek Timber

Puget Sound-based Fortune 1000 Corporations (by size):
Companies listed above, plus: Costco Wholesale • Microsoft • Weyerhaeuser • Paccar • Puget Sound Energy

Major Seattle- and Puget Sound-based non-public or externally owned corporations:
Nintendo of America • REI • T-Mobile USA • WestFarm Foods