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Microsoft

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEX: 4338) is a United States-based multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its most profitable products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.

The company was 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, followed by the Windows line of operating systems. Its products have all achieved near-ubiquity in the desktop computer market. One commentator notes that Microsoft's original mission was "a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software." Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, 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 as well as home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune and MSN TV. The company's initial public stock offering (IPO) was in 1986; the ensuing rise of the company's stock price has made four billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.

Throughout its history the company has been the target of criticism, including monopolistic business practices and anti-competitive strategies 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.

For more information about Microsoft, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with microsoft

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Google, Yahoo zero in on Internet 'freedom' bill

Technology / Internet

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Google Inc. and other Internet companies have zeroed in on a resilient effort by a Republican lawmaker to pass legislation that could restrict their ability to take a nuanced approach to operating in "repressive" foreign ...


The websites of Bing, Microsoft and Yahoo

Australia, Canada approve Yahoo!-Microsoft deal

Technology / Internet

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Australian and Canadian competition authorities have approved the Internet search and advertising partnership between Yahoo! and Microsoft, the companies said Tuesday.


Microsoft says cost-cutting CFO to step down

Technology / Business

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said its chief financial officer is departing at the end of the year and will be replaced by the man now responsible for the books at the division that produces Microsoft Office and other ...


HP's profit up 14 pct despite sales drop (AP)

HP profit jumps on cost cuts, new market expansion

Technology / Business

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Hewlett-Packard Co.'s cost-cutting and push into new markets is helping soften the blow from weakness in the company's mainstay businesses.


Google Chrome

Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays (Update)

Technology / Software

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(AP) -- Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.


Yahoo jumps on Twitter bandwagon to improve search

Technology / Internet

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.


Microsoft Office 2010 beta ready to download

Technology / Software

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

If you want to try out Microsoft Office 2010, the beta is available for anyone to download, the company announced at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference.


Xbox 360

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 friend Facebook

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(AP) -- Users of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles can now brag about their achievements on Facebook.


NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians

NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA and Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., have collaborated to create a Web site where Internet users can have fun while advancing their knowledge of Mars.


Sidekick

T-Mobile resumes sale of Sidekicks after data loss

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- T-Mobile USA resumed selling Sidekick phones Tuesday, more than a month after a server meltdown at Microsoft Corp. caused contact numbers, pictures and other personal information to disappear from ...


A Chinese court has found Microsoft guilty of infringing a Chinese company's intellectual property rights

Court rules against Microsoft in China font case

Technology / Business

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A Chinese court has ruled Microsoft Corp. infringed a Chinese company's intellectual property rights by including certain fonts in its operating systems, the companies confirmed Tuesday.


NPD: October video game sales tumble 19 percent (AP)

NPD: October video game sales tumble 19 percent

Technology / Business

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(AP) -- After a slight reprieve in September, U.S. video game retail sales slumped again in October, unable to escape the economic turmoil that's cutting into consumer spending and swelling the ranks of unemployed.


Microsoft XBOX 360

Xbox Live boots pirate videogame players; will link to Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Microsoft said Thursday that its Xbox 360 videogame console will be able to link online starting next week with Twitter and Facebook along with Internet radio star Last.fm.


Clicker.com aims to become Internet video usher

Technology / Internet

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Web surfing is becoming more like channel surfing as television shows, movies and music videos pour onto the Internet.


Bing logo

Microsoft brings more Web data to Bing results; teams up with WolframAlpha

Technology / Internet

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 2.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(AP) -- Microsoft's Bing search service will pull more information and tools from other Web sites as the company tries to distinguish itself as part of its challenge to market leader Google.