Microsoft: Difference between revisions

'''{{Wplink|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 being known for ''Windows'', the graphical extension to ''MS-DOS''. They have developed the ''Microsoft'' ''Office Suite: Access,'' ''Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher,'' and ''Word''; the ''Xbox'' under ''the Microsoft'' ''Gaming'' division; 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 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260113144228/https://www.britannica.com/money/Microsoft-Corporation |archive-date=13 Jan 2026}}</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 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251218215243/https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-rise-of-dos-how-microsoft-got-the-ibm-pc-os-contract |archive-date=18 Dec 2025}}</ref>

Through acquisitions, Microsoft owns numerous other tech-related businesses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of mergers and acquisitions by Microsoft |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft |website=Wikipedia |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260102005731/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft |archive-date=2 Jan 2026}}</ref>. Their most notable acquisitions include Skype, [[LinkedIn]], Github and [[Activision Blizzard]].

They also invest heavily in artificial intelligence enterprises like ''[[OpenAI]]'' (best known for creating ''ChatGPT'').<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vincent |first=James |date=July 22, 2019 |title=Microsoft invests $1 billion in OpenAI to pursue holy grail of artificial intelligence |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/22/20703578/microsoft-openai-investment-partnership-1-billion-azure-artificial-general-intelligence-agi |work=The Verge |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251112210115/https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/22/20703578/microsoft-openai-investment-partnership-1-billion-azure-artificial-general-intelligence-agi |archive-date=12 Nov 2025}}</ref>

Microsoft has engaged in significant anti-consumer and anti-competitive practices, often leading to lawsuits in relating to allegations of monopolistic behavior. Such lawsuits have featured Microsoft's practices of bundling Internet Explorer (and later, the Edge browser) with the Windows operating system, signing exclusive deals with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to stifle competition, using [[wikipedia:Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish|"embrace, extend, extinguish"]] tactics to eliminate competitors, and other incidents. Microsoft was also featured within the [[wikipedia:2010s_global_surveillance_disclosures|Snowden leaks]] as being engaged in mass surveillance through the PRISM program<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2011 |title=Snowden Reveals Microsoft PRISM Cooperation: Helped NSA Decrypt Emails, Chats, Skype Conversations |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/snowden-reveals-microsoft-prism-cooperation-helped-nsa-decrypt-emails-chats-skype-conversations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250701125316/https://www.ibtimes.com/snowden-reveals-microsoft-prism-cooperation-helped-nsa-decrypt-emails-chats-skype-conversations |archive-date=2025-07-01 |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=International Business Times}}</ref> and has been reported on for removing content from Bing to appease the Chinese government<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicholas |first=Kristof |date=2009-11-20 |title=Boycott Microsoft Bing |url=http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/boycott-microsoft-bing/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123194315/http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/boycott-microsoft-bing/ |archive-date=2009-11-23 |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>.