is a multinational computer U.S. , founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen . His annual income reached 60.42 billion 100 day loans dollars in 2007-2008 1 and employs 88,180 people in 107 countries different 3 , 1 . Its main activity is to develop operating systems and software for PC . Its head office is located in Redmond , near Seattle , and his best sellers are the operating system Windows and Office Suite Microsoft Office . The company is sometimes referred to MS or MSFT or called “the Redmond company” or simply “Redmond” because of the influence of the headquarters payment protection insurance of the region.
Microsoft’s business strategy has enabled it to distribute its Windows operating system on most desktops. So an observer even noted that Microsoft’s original mission of having “a computer on every desk and in every home, running on Windows” is now almost complete.
Microsoft is also involved in other sectors, such as the U.S. cable channel MSNBC , the web portal spa covers MSN , computer peripherals ( keyboards , mice ), and home entertainment products such as Xbox and Zune .
Originally founded to develop and sell computer programs BASIC for the Altair 8800 , Microsoft has managed to dominate the market of STD Testing the operating system of the personal computer with MS-DOS in the mid 1980′s . The IPO of the company, and the surge in share prices that followed, made ​​four billionaires and about 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees 4 .
During its history, the company was criticized for many reasons, including the abuse of dominance by the U.S. and European justice.

Introduction
The name “Microsoft” is a portmanteau word is affiliate marketing a contraction of ” microcomputer software “, it appears for the first time in a letter to Paul Allen Bill Gates in July 1975, as “Micro-soft” 5 . The name in its present form will be filed November 26, 1976 in the State of New Mexico 6 . The headquarters of this company is located in Redmond in the State of Washington , and Microsoft is sometimes electronic cigarettes called the Redmond company . This company is best known for its software , such as operating systems MS-DOS and Windows , Office Suite Microsoft Office , its development tools, its video games , also for various hardware ( peripherals for PC , game consoles Xbox , digital music player Zune ), and for his services Internet (known collectively as Windows Live ). (see list of activities for more details)
Microsoft dominates the market for several years operating systems general public. Its operating system Windows , regularly reprinted, has become a standard in the computer field.
Since 27 May 2010 , Microsoft is the second cap market of NASDAQ , behind Apple 7 . The company employs about eighty-eight thousand people worldwide, and is directed from the 14 January 2000 by Steve Ballmer [ref. needed] .
Leaders
Microsoft headquarters in Redmond , in the State of Washington ( USA ).
Bill Gates : iconic co-founder of Microsoft with Paul Allen , he is the main shareholder (which made ​​him the richest man in the world from 1995 to 2008 yielding vps hosting his place to Warren Buffett with 67 billion of dollars annually ranked by the magazine Forbes , and he finally recovered its position as the first ranking in 2009, but lost again in 2010 in favor of Carlos Slim ). President and Director of Software Architecture (he was CEO from 1975 to 2000 ), named Person of the Year 2005 by the weekly Time Magazine , along with his wife Melinda and singer Bono of the group U2 , for their participation in effort humanitarian in general, and especially this year, when tsunami in Asia and the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 8 . He announced in June 2006 after a transition period of two years, he devoted himself full time to the Bill & Melinda Gates ( Bill & Melinda Foundation ), while remaining a shareholder, president, and advisor Microsoft.
Steve Ballmer : it is used with the company since 1980 , and is wow gold the Director Relevant Life Insurance since January 2000 , when Bill Gates decided to step back from the management of the company to devote himself primarily to the product strategy.
History
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The company Micro-Soft was founded in April 1975 , at Albuquerque in New Mexico , the need for two American students, Bill Gates and Paul Allen , to formalize the sale of the shell of computer language BASIC : Altair Basic that they had bought from a freeware for what is considered the first personal computer U.S., the Altair 8800 , MITS company, with the first programming language in computer history of computer . The Microsoft brand (in fact, originally, Micro-Soft : the link will disappear later, but remain in the logo several years) was filed on 26 November 1976 .
The first contract for Microsoft is the real feat of Bill Gates , is perhaps even more important for the company as the role will then MS-DOS : contrary to what was done at the time, which manufacturers bought publishers with their software all right, Bill Gates and Paul Allen asked each to receive three thousand dollars for their Altair Basic while remaining owners, and not conceded a license to MITS, which was to repay their thirty-five dollars per copy circulated. As a guide the sales price of the Altair 8800 being 397 dollars , the license of Microsoft was thus 8.8%. Thus the BASIC Microsoft found himself in two popular computer introduced in 1977 : the PET Commodore and TRS-80 Tandy.
Before the release of MS-DOS in 1981 , Microsoft continued its development by producing various language compilers for programming languages ​​such as FORTRAN or COBOL .
In 1980 , IBM preparing to launch the IBM PC , called the BASIC (including a version in ROM ) to Microsoft. IBM has also asked the company Digital Research , led by Gary Kildall to provide a version of its operating system CP / M .
The history of contract breach by Gary Kildall is very controversial, but the version put forward by many people, including Tim Paterson , who will soon be required to work for Microsoft, and least disputed claims that Kildall and his former wife, Dorothy McEwen , have refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. In addition, they refused to modify CP/M-86, demanded a higher fee, and most importantly, the CP / M 86 being completely free of bugs , did not allow IBM to change the coding.
IBM turned to Microsoft and tried to outsource CP / M for the IBM PC . The agreement with Microsoft does not allow, it spent $ 25,000 in December 1980 for a non-exclusive license for the operating system , available at an best web hosting experimental stage, clone of CP / M, QDOS ( Quick and Dirty Operating System , operating system quickly and badly done). In May 1981 , Microsoft hired Tim Paterson to bring QDOS on the IBM PC. In July 1981 , Microsoft bought all rights to 86-DOS for five thousand dollars. IBM saved lives and his project of IBM PC, but at the price, it ignored, lost its dominant position: This agreement will help to make clones , and most importantly, to IBM to pocket royalties on MS -DOS for the patches that are made ​​(debug). IBM had held up to 66% of the market for mainframe owners , market share of PC never exceeded a maximum of 21%, reached around 1983 , then declined to place the manufacturer behind Dell and Compaq (now integrated Hewlett-Packard ), become marginal situation, unimaginable in 1981 .
Microsoft then sold to IBM licenses for third-party operating system, the 86-DOS, written by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products for microprocessor Intel 8086 (the Intel 8088 which equipped the Compatible PC is compatible with the Intel 8086, and just a little slower than the latter, and has the same machine language ). The MS-DOS became one of the three operating systems available for the IBM PC , CP / M 86 ( Gary Kildall developed face competition eventually be convinced) and PC / IX, a version of ‘ UNIX mode with no memory protection. Microsoft bought 50,000 dollars on software that will build his empire, even though it has had to complete the development to meet the specifications of IBM. It was published under the name of IBM PC-DOS 1.0 with the introduction of the IBM PC market English, the 12 August 1981 . Being lighter, cheaper and made ​​more available than its two competitors, it quickly became the operating system is installed automatically on the IBM PC and later Compatible PC .
Like BASIC, Microsoft has reserved the right to sell licenses to other manufacturers under the name MS-DOS . With the development of compatible PC in the dui attorney chicago mid- 1980s (from Texas Instruments , Compaq , Seiko Epson , Thomson , Amstrad …), MS-DOS hcg diet and is fast becoming the de facto platform of professional reference and a monopoly, depending on your point of view. In 1987 , thousands of existing PC-compatible manufacturers in the world, and all without exception had a choke point, which was the operating system from Microsoft, the most powerful Phen375 Review of all, with a view, crucial to the professional world , unity, standardization, and portability of all PC compatible computers.
First Discount Judaica products single graphical environment for MS-DOS, Windows has become a much later operating system in its own right, after some intermediate versions ( Windows Note that MS-Windows is an operating system in its own right that According to Windows 95, in the true sense of the term [ref. needed] ). A few strokes of strategy marketing are no strangers to success, as the addition of three key “Windows” on the keyboard to mark it in the consumer’s mind as being “made for Windows” and thus marginalize potential competitor to OS / 2 developed by IBM , and initially co-developed by Microsoft and IBM, to the legal divorce between the two companies in September 1991 . According to Microsoft, particular attention was also given to issues of usability , especially on the issue of fonts typography, from the 3.0 versions ( Adobe Type Manager ) and 3.1 ( TrueType ) Windows.
Many years later, Microsoft says considering its lead in terms of ergonomics as the asset that will allow Windows to survive against the How to Unlock iPhone competition of free Linux and KDE / GNOME . Indeed, Microsoft devoted a very large proportion of its budget on usability issues: service observes all the hesitations of novice users, to make the menus more clear, and often tedious process performed on free software.
Windows then became the standard micro-computer de facto firmly supported by the network effect of indirect thousands of software and Windows-specific hardware devices that required billions of man / days of development.
Some risk it: Go Software , with a high performance, fast, and very rich in features, but while many applications are already made ​​or being ported to Windows ( Go to retrain in the interfaces of mobile mobile), or Be Inc. with Denver Divorce Lawyer the operating system BeOS , created by Jean-Louis Gassée, former head of R & D from Apple . The development of a product capable of competing with Windows would mean to have, such as Microsoft, regular income during the years required to develop such a system. But as long as it is developed, Microsoft had already taken the lead Storage Bins and eventually changed the standards. The killing of OS / 2 electronic cigarette review by Microsoft (against all odds), with the consent of IBM since Windows 95 contains parts of OS / 2 then generates royalties for IBM, is a warning that discourages any attempt to try to compete with Windows. [ref. needed] The company still offers Be BeOS , oriented from the outset in the management of the video: the operating system does not really take off outside a circle of enthusiasts. And Be also will institute an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft for abusing its dominant position, which will end with an amicable financial agreement between the two companies.
In 1986 Microsoft launches the graphical environment Windows 1.0 , shortly after the release of competitive products GEM from Digital Research , and Mac OS from Apple . The version 1.0 of Windows , basic – windows can not even overlap – does not worry seriously Apple , which does not react. The version 2.0 is a more serious competition, and Apple is suing for plagiarism against Microsoft, shortly after a lawsuit against Digital Research similar. The latter used all legal means to postpone the trial length. Apple finally lost his lawsuit against Microsoft on appeal in 1994. Apple in financial difficulty, then threatened réattaquer Microsoft, resulting in a settlement with the amicable [ref. needed] in 1997 , when the return of Steve Jobs at the head of Apple to replace Gil Amelio.
This agreement included a stake in Microsoft auto transport temporary capital of Apple (up to 150 million dollars or 6% of the capital of the apple ), and the obligation for Microsoft to develop Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office for Mac OS until at least 2002 . In exchange, Apple abandoned its prosecution.
An important factor in the widespread adoption of Windows has been its role not only graphical interface, but also drivers . Under MS-DOS , each editor software needed to develop individual management of the entire panel of thousands of devices compatible PC existing and future. Daunting task that software vendors no longer have to deal with Windows since it is responsible for managing itself in all the standard drivers devices of the universe compatible PC.
The history of Microsoft, however, can not be reduced to that of Windows. Other important parts of the business of Microsoft allowed its growth:
Its application software now marketed around the suite Microsoft Office . Initially, it was Multiplan, who competed including Lotus 1-2-3 and Word, Wordperfect who competed. The move to Windows and integration as a result of wedding ring these programs, supplemented by PowerPoint, and 1997 Outlook, Microsoft allowed to generate a new payment protection insurance pole dominance and a new sales representative of the same order of magnitude as that of Windows.
Its activity in the server software, which started in 1990 with LAN Manager, a network operating system overlay of OS / 2. Followed the server version of Windows NT , Windows Server, casino which become eligible for a global market share above 65%, and who signed the decline of Novell Netware that has not been able to adapt, especially during the rise of the Internet [ ref. desired] . The activity-server was complemented by a wide range of products such as SQL Server (database), Exchange (mail server), BizTalk Server , Operations Manager , and other system administration tools. The event server in 2006 auctions online represented 23% of revenue from Microsoft, and was its main source of revenue growth and profits.
The consumer business, with software game ( Flight Simulator ), encyclopedias ( Encarta ), management software, personal finance ( Money ), a public office suite ( Works ), and hardware (mice, keyboards, etc.. ). This activity has expanded considerably in 2001 with the launch of the Xbox , which was renewed in late 2005 with the launch of the Xbox 360 .
The Internet business with the MSN portal launched in 1995 has undergone several transformations since then, with the “software” of MSN provided under the ” Windows Live “since 2005. Microsoft has become a major player in this market with Hotmail (email) and especially Live Messenger (instant messaging) while struggling on its search engine ( Bing ) against the leader in this field, Google.
In the future, future Windows operating systems (such as the upcoming Windows will incorporate some features included in previous versions of software like Office suite. The company hopes to resume his past IT developments, like the Office 2007 ribbon found on Windows 8 9 . Other activities of Microsoft seem to have a role in the development of Windows.
Timeline
January 1975 : Development of the Altair 8800 by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS).
February 1975 : Gates and Allen complete their interpreter Altair Basic for the Altair 8800 .
July 1975 : Marketing of Altair Basic .
November 1975 : Gates proposes to Allen to use the name “Micro-soft” to describe their association.
November 1976 : Filing of trademark of Microsoft by Bill Gates and Paul Allen .
February 1977 : Microsoft released a FORTRAN compiler.
November 1977 : End of the association between Microsoft and MITS after a long legal dispute.
April 1978 : Microsoft markets a COBOL-80 compiler.
November 1978 : Microsoft builds first overseas sales counter in Tokyo, Japan.
December 1978 : The turnover of the company exceeds one million dollars.
June 1979 : Microsoft Announces BASIC for the 8086 microprocessor.
November 1979 : Microsoft settles in Europe through a Belgian representative: Vector Microsoft.
April 1980 : Microsoft sells the SoftCard Z-80, a card plugged into an Apple II and to run with little modification to the thousands of existing programs designed for the 8080 and Z-80.
June 1980 : Manager Steve Ballmer (now President and CEO of Microsoft) joined Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
August 1980 : Microsoft announces XENIX OS, a portable operating system for microprocessors 16 bits . XENIX operating system is an interactive, multi-user and multi-tasking UNIX compatible.
August 1981 : IBM introduced its PC, IBM PC-DOS 1.0 . In addition to the operating system, Microsoft provides different compilers / interpreters, such as COBOL, BASIC and Pascal.
June 1982 : Microsoft changes its logo. The new logo is given a name: the “Blibbet.”
May 1983 : Microsoft sells its first mouse. Unlike the mouse for Apple , it has two buttons.
September 1983 : First version of word processing Word for MS-DOS, the ancestor of Office.
November 1983 : Microsoft unveils weight loss pills Microsoft Windows . This is a complement to MS-DOS, which solar power lets you open several programs simultaneously and switch from one to another through windows placed tile. Data can be exchanged between applications.
November 1985 : Microsoft has GUI Windows 1.0 for its MS-DOS system. Because of the lack of features made ​​it a failure.
13 March 1986 : Microsoft goes public. The share price starts at $ 21 and ended the day at $ 28 .
March 1987 : New logo for Microsoft (today). Employees protest and launch a campaign to save the “Blibbet.” The new logo is still adopted.
April 1987 : Marketing of MS OS / 2, a new operating system developed to exploit the opportunities of the microprocessors 286 and 386 .
April 1987 : Marketing of Windows 2.0 , running on MS-DOS. Among new features: new look, overlapping windows.
July 1987 : Microsoft acquires Forethought Inc.., which produces presentation software called PowerPoint .
October 1987 : Microsoft released Excel for Windows. This is the first product running exclusively on Windows.
March 1988 : Apple suing Microsoft to court for plagiarism of ” look and feel “(intuitive) for Windows 2.0 , which begins to seduce.
May 1990 : Microsoft launches Windows 3.0 and it’s success: 10 million copies sold in two years .
July 1990 : Microsoft becomes the first software company to exceed one billion dollars in annual sales.
March 1992 : First TV commercials for television. These commercials extolling the virtues of Windows. road rage Also: Microsoft and Fox Software (Foxpro) merge.
April 1992 : Microsoft released Windows 3.1 . This version features more than 100 improvements over Windows 3.0 and has an unqualified success: over one million pre-orders have been placed throughout the world. This is the boom in graphics systems and Microsoft dominates the market.
June 1992 : U.S. President George Bush to Bill Gates awarded the National Medal of Technology for technological and commercial success.
October 1992 : Sales of Windows for Workgroups 3.1 . This version allows the exchange of emails, sharing files and printers, and network management.
November 1992 : Marketing of Access for Windows.
March 1993 : Marketing of Encarta , the encyclopedia first intended for a computer. Also: Marketing of MS-DOS 6.0 .
April 1993 : More than 25 million people use Windows around the world.
May 1993 : Marketing of the first Windows NT . Microsoft attacks the corporate world. Also: Commercialization of seconds Microsoft Mouse.
July 1993 : Sales of Windows for Workgroups 3.11 .
December 1993 : Fortune magazine has awarded Microsoft the title of “Most Innovative Company.”
April 1994 : Windows for Workgroups 3.11 operating system becomes the best-selling. 300,000 copies were sold worldwide.
June 1994 : Microsoft acquires Softimage Inc. of Montreal. for 30 million dollars [ ref. desired] .
September 1994 : Microsoft chooses the official name of the next version of Windows (including code-named Chicago): Windows 95 .
January 1995 : Bill Gates announced the upcoming release of Microsoft Office for Windows 95 . This is affiliate marketing a set of eight applications (word processing, calendar, address book, email, etc.. ). This product will fail.
March 1995 : Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG ( Steven Spielberg ) based DreamWorks Interactive (which will be acquired by Electronic Arts in 2000 ).
August 1995 : Launch of Windows 95 . One million copies will be sold only four days after its release. It is a revolution and the dream of Bill Gates begins to realize: ” A Computer On Every Desk in Every House . ”
1996 : Creation of MSNBC, a partnership between Microsoft and the National Broadcast Corporation (NBC).
July 1996 : Launch of Windows NT 4.0 , which replaces Windows NT 3.11 . This version is heavier than Windows 95 but more reliable.
August 1996 : Launch Internet Explorer 3.0 is the beginning of the end for Netscape .
August 1997 : The dispute between Microsoft and Apple about the authorship (and ownership) of the GUI is terminated by mutual agreement between Microsoft and the capital of Apple to the tune of 150 million dollars. [ref . required]
May 1998 : Trial ” antitrust “against Microsoft in the United States.
July 1998 : Marketing of Windows 98 , considered at the time as a minor revision of Windows 95 , he joined for the first time the Internet Explorer browser.
1999 : Marketing of Windows 98 Second Edition , which some say is the most stable kernel version Win9x [ref. needed] .
January 2000 : Bill Gates gave way to Steve Ballmer at the head of Microsoft.
February 2000 : Marketing of Windows 2000 , also known as the Windows NT 5.0 server and available for workstation, considered one of the best operating system Microsoft [ref. needed] .
September 2000 scrabble word finder : Marketing in parallel with Windows 2000 to Windows Me , only for workstations.
June 2000 : Justice Jackson in favor of split Microsoft into two separate companies, which will ultimately not ( currently [when?] only the state of Massachusetts maintains its prosecution).
August 2001 : Sales of Windows XP , which is the reunification of Windows 2000 for its robustness and Windows 9x for the particular user aspect, with a simple interface.
27 September 2001 : France Softimage limited company, owned by Microsoft since 1994, was sentenced by the Commercial Court of Nanterre to three million francs in damages for the infringement in the software Softimage reproducing the software by Character 10 . On appeal, the ruling will be overturned and counterfeit Microsoft exonerated. The court condemn rather Softimage Co., a division of Avid Technology , parasitism 11 .
15 November 2001 : Launch of the Xbox , the United States. Microsoft’s policy was to sell it at hcg cost to prime the pump and take profit only on the games.
14 March 2002 : Marketing the Xbox in Europe.
September 2002 : Takeover of Rareware .
2003 : Release of Windows XP SP1.
April 2003 : Marketing of Windows Server 2003 , development in mobile technology with Windows CE : PocketPC (PDA), smartphone (mobile phones), etc..
August 2004 : Release of Windows XP SP2.
9 May 2005 : Global launch of Windows Mobile 5.0 designed for smartphones and PDAs
8 November 2005 : Global launch of SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 introduced the concept of the mirror base.
2 December 2005 : Release of the Xbox 360 .
30 November 2006 : Availability of Windows Vista for businesses.
30 January 2007 : Release of Windows Vista and Office 2007 for individuals.
May 2007 : New Technology keyboards of the future, exposed to the fair of Paris .
March 2008 : Release of Windows Vista SP1.
April 2008 : Release of Windows XP SP3.
26 May 2009 electronic cigarette : Release of SP2 for Windows Vista.
June 2008 : Microsoft acquires MobiComp for its expertise in management and protection of personal mobile 12 .
1 st June 2009 : launch of the new search engine Bing 13 .
15 July 2009 : Opening of the Book of Windows 7 on the site Microsoft.fr: Store Microsoft Store is down before too many requests.
22 October 2009 : Launch of the operating system Windows 7 14 .
18 November 2009 : Provision of free beta of Office 2010 15 .
15 June 2010 : Marketing of suspension lift kits Office 2010 .
21 October 2010 : Out of phones under Windows Phone 7 in Europe (November 8 in the U.S.).
4 November 2010 : Release of Kinect in the U.S. and November 10th in Europe.
Dominance
Microsoft has quickly dominated the personal computer industry and has become a key player in this sector. This earned him much criticism about its dominance, it appears that Microsoft currently has the same types of problems of dominance than IBM had before 1980:
The default integration of Internet Explorer in Windows browsers such disadvantage now that the browser free and open Firefox , and that Opera and Safari have indeed difficult to win, although this fact begins to change: Firefox is growing rapidly and represents a market share of just over 29% (2008) in Europe according to the research team Xiti 16 .
The bundling of Windows with every PC manufacturer (the PC assemblers do not have this constraint) is also criticized, as the Windows tax , by supporters of free software . Systems based on GNU / Linux is increasingly recognized as an alternative to Windows but manufacturers offer only very rarely payday loan at the time of purchase to replace Windows with these systems and thus reduce the price (minimum of 80 € ). This argument can not be tempered by the fact that other areas of computing the tying practice: for example, sells its machines Mac systematically operating system MacOS , on which Linux and Windows can be installed, but Apple makes its machines. The law requires hardware manufacturers to sell products so long as a functional operating system. Other programs also use the tying ( Nero and multimedia software-related, online stores and systems of DRM …). There is now a legal limbo that does not define precisely the boundary between the sale of one product with multiple functions and the bundling of two separate products.
Microsoft is accused of knowingly develop closed products not meeting standards and curb the emergence of open standards to make the migration of customers to other systems more cumbersome and complex. denver personal injury lawyer This allows to preserve migration to other competing solutions, exploiting its status as the most common technical solution to seat just over its dominant position (see the technology implemented by Internet Explorer at the expense of standards of W3C – particularly in terms of CSS and JavaScript ).
Technology Java for Sun Microsystems allows any software that uses the Java programming interface to run on any computer for which there is a Java virtual machine , regardless of the operating system underneath. By license agreement, Sun gives responsibility to the suppliers of virtual machine like Microsoft to adapt their product to meet the specifications. In 1998 Sun Microsystems takes legal action against Microsoft, accusing it of knowingly failed to comply with the specifications, and accusing him of wanting to cause a break in the market and encourage them to build software using Java which works only with Windows . Sun wins the trial and ordered Microsoft to stop distributing its Java virtual machine, unless it is brought into conformity with the specifications within three months 17 .
Finally, it is simply the dominant position of Microsoft (almost 90% of PCs are running Windows) concern to the extent that a court order called for the U.S. in 2000 the division of society into two separate entities and competing [ref. needed] .
This position of market dominance is reinforced by the response it brings to two types of hearings:
users, who like to have available a range of environments and familiar uniform on different products (PC, PDA, cell phone, etc.. ), thus eliminating the learning of a new interface that is a barrier to change. The de-facto standards pushed the market avoid costly format conversions for users to use strict standards gives the same result but competition and market law often because of these standards (eg, the MPEG-4 with multiple incompatible versions, the various products branded Wi-Fi Cell Phone Accessories 802.11n with inconsistencies between draft ( draft ) and final version …)
software vendors, who can afford not to develop and maintain their products on other operating systems ( MacOS , Linux , etc.. ) without losing a small proportion of their potential customers. This fact has probably helped to focus the software offer around the sphere Windows [ref. needed] .
Activities

Microsoft is one of the largest software companies in the world and at the same time, the company has since its inception in the hardware (the mouse Microsoft, some time the Microsoft Sound System was not required, then some keyboards), the branch material appears never to have exceeded 10% of the revenues of Microsoft.
Operating systems and software
Windows
Main article: Windows .
This family of operating systems Bankruptcy is the main product of the firm and was the second officer’s phenomenal success t shirt printing (the first being the operating system DOS , whose financial contributions have funded the development recurring (deficit) for Windows to the version 3.0 of the software, which reached its break-even).
Windows is installed on nearly 90% of personal computers sold in the world 18 , and currently produces 87% profit margin. However, Windows is gradually losing market share to the benefit of Mac OS X from Apple 19 . But Windows is now the most profitable product of the editor, followed closely by more Microsoft Office .
Office
Articles: Microsoft Office , Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010 .
Originally, it was the suite from the publisher, made ​​a lot of software including word processing Word , the spreadsheet Excel , presentation software PowerPoint , the tool of martial arts denver communication and agenda Wire Cart Covers Outlook and the database Access . Since 2003, the Office suite has greatly expanded, with many server software such as Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Web Applications . The Office suite is also published for systems Mac OS from Apple , but with a reduced number of software. Office software is one of the most profitable of the publisher.
Microsoft Expression Studio
Main article: Microsoft Expression Studio .
It is a software suite dedicated to graphic design, web ranking and photo.
Windows Internet Explorer
Main article: Windows Internet Explorer life insurance quotes online .
Windows Internet Explorer is a web browser equipped just over 60% of Internet-connected computers in March 2011 (According StatOwl.com) 20 . The current version is version 9 (launched on 14 March 2011 ). A version of Internet Explorer is available for systems Mac OS from Apple , but the development of this version, however, was arrested in 2003 . However, the browser lost market share since 2004 , with the arrival of other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox , Google Chrome and Safari 20 . This decrease coincides with the addition of the ballot screen , a screen allowing consumers to freely choose a web browser, a measure imposed by the European Commission 21 .
Windows Media Player
Main article: Windows Media Player .
Windows Media Player is a multimedia player that can play audio, video, and images on personal computers running with the Windows operating system. Distributed free with the operating system Windows , it is currently version 12 .
Encarta
Main article: Encarta .
This suite brings together an encyclopedia, an atlas and a dictionary. With over 36,500 items in its French version, it is available in different languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch or Japanese. Microsoft announced in late March 2009 the closure of MSN Encarta to be 22 in all countries of the world on 31 October 2009 , except in Japan where affiliate marketing the online encyclopedia has closed on 31 December 2009 .
Skype
Main article: Skype .
Skype is proprietary software that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet. chiropractic marketing Calls from user to user are free, while those to the fixed telephone lines and mobile phones are not free. Among its additional features: instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.
Video Games
Main article: Games for Windows .
Microsoft is the publisher of many video games for PC with Halo , Flight Simulator , Age of Empires , Fable and Viva Piñata . Community service was launched in 2006 , ” Games for Windows “. This range accommodates several games like Gears of War or GTA IV , but is abandoned by major publishers such THQ 23 [ref. incomplete] , which justifies its removal by “recurrent requests of players tired of the service” .
Internet Information Services
Main article: Internet Information Services .
This is a web server provided free by Microsoft since the version 4 of Windows NT . Its provision of free rang the death knell of many competing products charge (the principle of competition, such as Netscape , was in fact selling the server to provide free and the only customer , as the Adobe software for its Acrobat ).
Security Essentials
Main article: Microsoft Security Essentials .
MSE is a software antivirus free of charge from Microsoft since the 29 September 2009 . It offers real time protection against the virus , spyware or other malware . It is available in French and compatible with Windows XP , Vista (32 and 64 bit ) and Windows 7 24 cash advance .
Visual Studio
Main article: Visual Studio .
Visual Studio is the result of development of the firm, including various editors and compilers , essentially an enhanced version of BASIC called Visual Basic , as well as changes in C + + and C # , which is Microsoft’s answer to the language Java Criminal Attorney Chicago . This suite can also take advantage of features . NET Framework .
Databases
Main article: SQL Server .
SQL Server is the management system database (DBMS) Microsoft’s flagship, co-developed with Sybase until 1994. Microsoft Access DBMS is the personnel included in the Office suite, and Extensible Storage Engine is the engine of DBMS used in branded products such as Exchange or Active Directory 25 .
Microsoft Business Solution
One of ERP ERP, says Enterprise Resource Planning Microsoft. Other products are Dynamics AX , Dynamics NAV (Navision), Dynamics SL (Solomon) and Dynamics GP ( Great Plains ) and Dynamics CRM.
Materials
Xbox
Main articles: Xbox and Xbox 360 .
The Xbox
Microsoft has launched in 2001 in this highly competitive sector, leaving his own video game console the Xbox in 2005 and the Xbox 360 . They both offer hundreds of games and gameplay online community on Xbox Live . The Xbox 360 can also connect to Windows Live Messenger , Facebook and Twitter and use other Microsoft services. It can also play DVDs , videos, and music.
The Xbox 360 has 30% market share in the market for video game consoles in February 2009 26 . It is more profitable for the publisher since 2008 27 .
Zune
Main article: Zune .
The Zune is a digital music player primarily for listening to music. It was launched in November 2006 to compete with the supremacy of the iPod in the United States. After his crushing defeat, Microsoft announced the abandonment of the Zune in October 2011.
Other
Microsoft also manufactures a line of devices for various PC ( mouse , keyboards , gaming devices, flywheels …).
Internet
Currently Microsoft’s Internet activity consists of three main products:
portal MSN ;
services Windows Live messaging including email ( Windows Live Hotmail ) and instant messaging ( Windows Live Messenger );
the search engine Bing .
In 2011, Microsoft completes its Internet business by acquiring Skype , software that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet, for $ 8.5 billion to $ 28 .
Training
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Microsoft also offers training and certification ( Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer , Microsoft Certified Solution Developer , Microsoft Certified Professional , etc.. ).
Microsoft also has a program to distribute free software for secondary school students, called MSDN Academic Alliance .
Partnership
In its white paper on The Economics of Cloud Computing , Microsoft claims more than 600,000 partners in over 200 countries 29 . Whereas in France the number of partners from the publisher Gold was voluntarily reduced by half to 239 including 12 wholesalers, Microsoft announced an investment budget of $ 5.8 billion for licenses, training and incentives on its partners in 2011 30 .
Miscellaneous
In the USA, MSNBC is a news channel continuously.
It also offers DirectX , an API (video, sound, network, etc.. ) application development for Windows (primarily video games ) and also Silverlight that lets you view vector animations (and thus compete with Adobe Flash Player ) , but also multimedia content including audio and video.
Chess
Since its launch in 1995 , Microsoft Network (MSN, The Microsoft Network) has never been able to achieve its goal of becoming the leading search engines and Internet access.
The launch of Windows Live Messenger in Asia did not appeal to Asians in many ways.
The Zune’s hard to penetrate the United States: he can not beat the iPod from affiliate marketing Apple , firmly established there. Sales of the Zune are even down 54% in 2008 31 .
Xbox consoles in Japan have little success, in contrast to North America. The Xbox 360 hard to reach 1 million units sold in three years , while the PS3 has sold almost 3 million in 2 years , and the Wii to 7 million in two years 32 . Despite some lift in 2008 and 2009 thanks to the release of several JRPG (in) as Star Ocean 4 and Infinite Undiscovery 33 , it remains far behind. However, this does not prevent him from having success in the world 34 .
Sales of laptops under Windows Phone 7 are disappointing, with only 3% of sales in 2011 35 .
Public image

Microsoft, as distributor of the most common operating systems and software to the public office is a giant who made ​​huge profits. engagement ring These products are sold with a strong profit due to the lack of competition show these products as cows 36 .
In the videogame culture, it is not uncommon to shorten Microsoft M $ , which focuses attention on the company making huge profits.
The company has an arrogant attitude as shown by its actions:
stage in the development of its competitors vault iPhone and Blackberry for Windows Phone 7 37 ;
say it’s “a shame not to compete with a whole weird running Android “(Microsoft CEO) 38 ;
dubious means to promote their products by predicting in advance a great success:
“Sales of Kinect will explode those of the iPad” (responsible for development of the device) 39 ,
according to the official Xbox Britain, Halo Reach would sell better than Call Of Duty Black Ops 40 .
In 1998, Roberto Di Cosmo publishes a book of 180 pages devoted to the business strategies of Microsoft, entitled “The hold-up global: the hidden face of Microsoft” , whose introduction begins: “What a mixture of servility and stupidity technology intellectual he had to let Bill Gates build with impunity an absolute monopoly, destroying many companies whose products are top notch? ” , “How did he amass such a fortune selling software without having to poor results and without fear of prosecution, at locksmith a cost close to zero and a retail price that does not fall? ” , “how is it managed to payment protection insurance trick consumers by kidnapping their information in a proprietary format constantly called into question, forcing them to buy an annual update of all their applications in order to simply continue to read their own data? » 41
During the earthquake in Japan, doing serious damage, the company saw fit to launch a viral campaign on Twitter. Part of the Internet has strongly criticized this business transaction, forcing the firm to make formal apology 42 .
Finance

Sales and profits
According to the annual accounts, the sales of Microsoft in 2005 was 39 788 million dollars. That is to say an 8% increase since 2004.
In 2009 the turnover was 58.69 billion to $ 16.26 billion of profits 43 .
Turnover is divided into seven segments of products: client, server and tools, Information Worker , Microsoft Business Solutions , MSN, Mobile and Embedded Devices , Home and Entertainment .
The “Client” includes especially Windows XP. It brings in 2 005 12 234 millions dollars (6%) of turnover. This corresponds to a 12% increase in the number of licenses OEM but this is balanced by a decrease of 9% of turnover from retail sales of these licenses. This indicates a change in the structure of revenue: the operating system is increasingly tying the purchase of equipment.
The “Server and Tools” contains for example the Exchange server. Its turnover is 3 259 million dollars (130%) in 2005.
” Information worker “refers mainly office tools for sales of 11 013 million dollars (3%) in 2005.
The other segments are either losing or making a minor contribution in relation to the first 3 .
The stock market
Since 13 March 1986 , Microsoft is publicly traded in the NASDAQ : MSFT .
The action was worth 26.37 dollars on 19 June 2010 for a market capitalization of 231.7 billion dollars, making it the second value technological world (behind Apple ), compared for example to 28.3 billion worth of Dell 44 .
The company, which previously had never distributed a dividend, paid $ 3 per share on 1 st December 2004 . This dividend payment having been aided by a reduction in taxation affected 35 to 15%. The amount paid in dividends to the shareholders of Microsoft in 2004 so the approach 28 billion USD .
Research and Development
In October 2010 , Microsoft announced nearly nine billion dollars of investment in research and development (2009) and the creation of data centers government for its range of cloud private within 12 to 18 months 45 . To consolidate its cloud offering, Microsoft has invested $ 500 million to Chicago in September 2009 and $ 500 million in Dublin in June 2010 46 .
In February 2011 , Microsoft Research presented his prospective in augmented reality , especially with projects Skinput Light and Space 47 .
Judicial Affairs

Antitrust litigation in the United States [ change ]
“The challenge of the battle in federal court in Washington between Bill Gates and Joel Klein ( attorney general ‘s antitrust office assistant to Department of Justice) goes far beyond the fate of Microsoft or sharing of the browser market. Judging valid charges of monopolistic practices brought by the government against Microsoft, Judge Jackson rejected the theory in vogue which means that the “new economy”, born of the current technological revolution, created a capitalist order radically different from that under which Western industrial societies live from the xix th century. This theory is invoked by lawyers for Microsoft argued that antitrust law (the Sherman Act , passed in 1890) can not apply to high-tech industries, and that the government should San Diego Homes For Rent (and can) have no role in control of markets in this “new economy”. For Judge Jackson, there is no fundamental difference between Bill Gates and John D. Rockefeller, Microsoft and Standard Oil . ”
Source: iepmicrosoft.ifrance.com
Eolas Case
In 2003 , Microsoft is losing against the group Eolas for forgery and was sentenced to 521 million dollars of fines 48 .
In the month of August 2003 , Microsoft was ordered to pay 521 million dollars in compensation to the University of California and Eolas society for illegal exploitation of a patent on plug-ins and affecting the display of pages web.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004, Judge Zagel has not only confirmed the ruling, but has also allocated to Eolas nearly 45 million dollars in payments pending completion of judicial proceedings. He also granted an injunction against Eolas any future sale of the Web browser Explorer (IE) to exploit the patent 906 49 .
” Surfing the Internet could be changed ”
However, this decision will become federally enforceable if Microsoft decides not to appeal. But the financial stakes are such that the publisher should not stop there. According to a Microsoft spokesman, quoted by the agency Associated Press , the American giant is expected within thirty days to come, bring the case before a federal appeals court in Washington that specialize in law patents and intellectual property.
” The editor had also already announced a substantial change in functionality of its Internet browser to the beginning of 2004. ”
In reality, the stakes of the case outweigh the interests of Eolas and Microsoft may, in case of final conviction Plastic Storage Containers of the publisher, significantly affect Internet browsing. Recognizing this, the W3C (the consortium that defines standards of web technology) is out of the reserve, 29 October 2003 , asking the U.S. Patent Office re-examination of the validity of patent 906 .
In support of its motion, Microsoft sent “evidence of prior art” showing, according to the organization, the patent is invalid. In a letter sent to the U.S. Administration, Tim Berners-Lee showed himself determined “to eradicate (by re-examining the patent 906 ), an unfair obstacle to the smooth functioning hcg of the Web ” 50 .
In March 2005 , Microsoft wins against Eolas appeal 51 .
Alcatel-Lucent free auto insurance quotes deal
2002 – The U.S. telecommunications equipment maker Lucent (formerly included as part equipment in AT & T ) enters a court in a suit against manufacturers Dell and Gateway, which, he claimed, with some applications have violated patents filed by the center Search “Bell Labs” in 1994 and 1997, relating to the MP3 digital music technology. Microsoft joins the procedure consider themselves challenged due to the use of MP3 software in Windows Media Player 52 .
November 2006 – The French telecommunications hcg equipment maker Alcatel takes a court to Texas a complaint against Microsoft, which, he claimed, had violated seven of its patents. Negotiations are conducted in parallel to try to find an amicable agreement 53 .
End 2006 – Alcatel and Lucent merge giving rise to Alcatel-Lucent
January 2007 – Before the California court, Alcatel-Lucent requires repair of two billion dollars for unauthorized use of a patent ex-Lucent in the audio decoder MP3 Windows Media Player 54 .
February 2007 – Faced with a federal jury in U.S. San Diego in California , Microsoft is found guilty of violating patents MP3 of Alcatel-Lucent and was sentenced to pay the French-American supplier for damages amounting to 1, 52 billion dollars, far less than what Alcatel-Lucent claimed in his later conclusions ( 4.5 billion dollars). Microsoft said in free ipad a statement he is studying the possibility to appeal the ruling. The publisher argued in his defense that he had already paid 16 million dollars in fees to Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, “recognized by the industry as the legitimate holder of the patent” . According to the deputy secretary general of Microsoft, this decision may lead to generate lawsuits against hundreds of other companies that have purchased the right to use Fraunhofer MP3. Alcatel-Lucent said in response that he has not initiated proceedings against other companies, without excluding this possibility in the future. The same court must consider separately from other complaints against Microsoft, concerning patents for voice codecs and compression of video technologies used illegally by Microsoft, in the words of Alcatel-Lucent, in the console Xbox games. In contrast, Microsoft continues Alcatel-Lucent in a case relating to its unified messaging software 55 , 56 .
March 2007 – The federal jury in San Diego rejected the complaint of Alcatel-Lucent in holding that Microsoft did not infringe a patent owned by the speech recognition OEM Franco-American. It says it will appeal. In the other case concerning the dispute over MP3 , Microsoft decides to appeal, which suspends any payment 57 . In addition, a complaint filed in February by Alcatel-Lucent against Microsoft for infringement of patents is considered by the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the United States. Some technologies from Alcatel-Lucent are in danger of being banned for import into the United States 58 .
May 2007 – The Supreme Court of the United States breaks a decision on appeal dated July 2005 and sided with Alcatel-Lucent (formerly Lucent , formerly AT & T ). Microsoft found himself accused of having illegally incorporated into a patent Windows Speech Recognition AT & T. The latter had demanded reparations in proportion to sales of Windows to the United States and also in the world. The two companies had reached an agreement for the portion of sales in the U.S., but for the portion of international sales discussed their dispute at Supreme Court. This decision is a precedent for all software products exported from the United States. This also means that Microsoft will probably rely on that decision and perhaps win an appeal against Alcatel-Lucent in the case of patents relating to MP3 59 .
August 2007 – The decision of the Court of San Diego in February 2007 ordering Microsoft to pay 1.5 billion dollars in fines (Case MP3 patents) is canceled by a California Court of Appeal 52 .
European trial on competition
On 24 March 2004 , following four years of investigation by European Commissioner for competition Mario Monti , the European Commission makes its decision in the trial anti-trust , which contrasted with the firm.
The decision 60 condemns the monopoly position of Microsoft and its illegal practices. It imposes a sanction Microsoft history 497.5 million euros. Finally, the firm will publish the technical specifications of its products, sold separately some applications and ensure interoperability between its software and those of its competitors. Microsoft will sell a particular version of Windows without Windows Media Player . This decision will not be effective, having decided to sell Microsoft Windows Media Limited Edition at the same price as the full version.
The company commits an appeal to the Court of First Instance of the European Union ( 7 June 2004 ). It has no suspensive effect, the amount of the fine was settled on a st July 2004 .
On 12 July 2006 , the Commission imposes a new fine ( 280 million euros) sanction against Microsoft for the delay in the group to publish its specifications.
On 17 September 2007 , the Court of First Instance of the European Union confirms the decision of the European Commission in 2004 61 .
On 27 February 2008 , the company has still not changed their behavior, she scoops a new fine of 899 million euros 62 .
AT & T Business
In the case of patent infringement between Microsoft AT & T ( American Telephone and Telegraph Company ), the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Microsoft 63 . By seven votes against one, the Court decided on 30 April 2007 to censor the ruling July 20, 2005 by a Federal Court of Appeal , in favor of AT & T . At issue was the use by Microsoft in its Windows operating system , an invention designed to digitize voice and protected by a patent that AT & T held. As Microsoft sent directly to the companies computer manufacturers located outside the United States , all the data component’s operating system so they can copy them on their machines before selling them, AT & T claimed to be compensated for all software , including their patented invention that had been exported from the United States.
Microsoft’s lawyers acknowledged the infringement of patents AT & T in the U.S. and said that the dispute had been a mutual agreement between the parties in 2004 . By cons, they are strongly opposed to the idea that Windows could be accused of counterfeiting at international level, believing that computer code is not a component as such until it is installed on a computer. We can not blame Microsoft in their export outside the territory of the United States computer components protected by patent. The Supreme Court first considers that the American patent law is not intended to apply outside the territory [ref. required] , AT & T would bring his action before the courts of the countries concerned. Moreover, judges warn against the extension of patent protection and appear opposite to recognize that a line of computer code payday loan quality component belonging to a patented invention .