Microsoft: Difference between revisions

}}[[Wikipedia:Microsoft|'''''Microsoft Corporation''''']] was founded in 1975 by ''Bill Gates'' and ''Paul Allen'' in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is one of the "Big Five" tech giants, well known for licensing ''Q-DOS'' from ''Seattle Computer Product''s as ''MS-DOS'' prior to purchasing it in 1980, as well as ''Windows'', the graphical extension to ''MS-DO''S. They are also known for developing the ''Microsoft'' ''Office Suite; Access,'' ''Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and'' ''Word''. Additionally, they developed the Xbox under ''the Microsoft'' ''Gaming'' division and the ''Surface'' line of laptop devices and the cloud platform ''Azure''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zachary |first=Gregg Pascal |last2=Hall |first2=Mark |last3=Montevirgen |first3=Karl |title=Microsoft-Corporation |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Microsoft-Corporation |url-status=live |website=britannica.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Michael |date=August 12, 2021 |title=The Rise of DOS: How Microsoft Got the IBM PC OS Contract |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-rise-of-dos-how-microsoft-got-the-ibm-pc-os-contract |url-status=live |website=PCmag}}</ref>

==Consumer impact summary==

===Anti-competitive practices===

*'''Monopolistic bundling'''

*'''Exclusionary contracts'''

*'''Sabotaging competitors'''

:Deliberately degrading interoperability of competing software (e.g., Java, ''Netscape'') with Windows. <ref name=":0"></ref>

*'''Predatory pricing'''

===Cloud computing monopoly abuse===

*Priced ''MS-DOS'' significantly lower than competitors, making it the default choice for PC makers.{{Citation needed}}

*Launched ''Windows 1.0'' in 1985, as a graphical extension of ''MS-DOS''. They had over 90% of the PC market by the 1990's.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2002 |title=Competitive Processes, Anticompetitive Practices And Consumer Harm In The Software Industry: An Analysis Of The Inadequacies Of The Microsoft-Department Of Justice Proposed Final Judgment |url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/competitive-processes-anticompetitive-practices-and-consumer-harm-software-industry-analysis |website=justice.gov }}</ref>

*Allegedly used "embrace, extend, extinguish" tactics; adopting open standards, extending them with proprietary features, and then pushing competitors out.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=January 25, 2002 |title=Competitive Processes, Anticompetitive Practices And Consumer Harm In The Software Industry: An Analysis Of The Inadequacies Of The Microsoft-Department Of Justice Proposed Final Judgment |url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/competitive-processes-anticompetitive-practices-and-consumer-harm-software-industry-analysis |website=justice.gov}}</ref>

*Charging higher fees for running ''Windows Server'' on rival clouds (e.g., ''AWS'', ''Google Cloud'') versus ''Azure''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Browne |first=Ryan |date=December 3, 2024 |title=Microsoft faces £1 billion lawsuit in UK for allegedly overcharging rival cloud firms’ customers |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/03/microsoft-overcharging-rival-cloud-firms-customers-uk-lawsuit-says.html |website=CNBC}}</ref>

*Studies estimated that their monopoly led to consumers being overcharged by as much as 30 billion dollars in the 1990s.<ref name=":6" />

#The prohibition upon the removal of desktop icons, folders, and Start menu entries

In the case ''United States v.'' Microsoft Corp'''''.''','' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/ "United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Microsoft's conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for [[Intel]]-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "Microsoft's anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."

===Xbox 360 Defect - The "Red Ring of Death"<!-- I don't know for sure if we should have a dedicated Company article for Xbox, or if we should just redirect red links for Xbox to this article (Microsoft). Personally, I think what they do is MS's responsibility because MS is the parent company, so Xbox's issues should be mentioned here. Either way- I'm just going to place this info here for now for folks to edit or change appropriately. -->===

{{Main|Bumpgate}}

In 2005, Microsoft released the ''Xbox 360''. Not very long after, consumers started reporting problems with their consoles- three red flashing lights on the ring around the power button. This was coined by consumers as the "''Red Ring of Death''", and by 2007, ''Xbox''<nowiki/>'s hardware engineers eventually discovered that th<!-- I don't know for sure if we should have a dedicated Company article for Xbox, or if we should just redirect red links for Xbox to this article (Microsoft). Personally, I think what they do is MS's responsibility because MS is the parent company, so Xbox's issues should be mentioned here. Either way- I'm just going to place this info here for now for folks to edit or change appropriately. -->e reason for it was a defect in the ''Xbox 360''<nowiki/>'s GPU.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=December 13, 2021 |title=Power On: The Story of Xbox {{!}} Chapter 5: The Red Ring of Death |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch? |url-status=live |access-date=June 4, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

===Windows (Win 9x - Win 10)<!-- Reluctant to add this one unless we have more reports of this online, but I did find some microsoft support articles that mention Factory Resets happening with windows updates:  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/216587/why-a-factory-reset-without-my-permission-during-a -->===

===Edge===

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!Aftermath

!Related Article

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|Resetting primary browser

|Users have reported on frequent occasions that Edge has imported user data from browsers such as ''Chrome'' and ''Firefox'' without first requesting consent from the user.<ref>[https://www.komando.com/news/microsoft-edge-caught-importing-data/ "''Microsoft'' caught importing data before you give the OK"] - komando.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><!-- Could we get another source added here? -->

|Unknown if it still occurs<!-- Hey can someone verify if it still is happening? -->

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|Eliminated key search features in ''365'', forcing users to pay $30/month for ''Copilot'' access, sparking backlash from businesses and educators

|The FTC and DOJ are reportedly investigating, with Elon Musk alleging antitrust violations in its ''OpenAI'' partnership

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