Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation {{nasdaq|MSFT}} is the world's biggest software company, with over sixty thousand employees and a physical presence in over sixty countries as of 2005. It was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for various computing devices. Its most popular products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office families of products, each of which has achieved near ubiquity in the desktop computer market.

Corporate affairs

Logo

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." Employees ran a campaign to save the old logo, which was green, in all uppercase, and featured a fanciful letter O nicknamed the blibbet, but it was nevertheless discarded.

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Diversity

Even though it hires many American workers, Microsoft generally goes up to the annual limit in hiring foreign workers with H1B visas. In addition, Microsoft was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.

Related Topics:
2004 - Working Mothers

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Microsoft received a 86% rating in the 2004 Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign related to its policies concerning LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual) employees. According to the Human Rights Campaign, this is in line with the industry standard {{ref|hrc_cei}}. Through the hard work of the Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft (GLEAM) group and Diversity, Microsoft added gender expression to its anti-discrimination policies in April 2005 and the Human Rights Campaign updated Microsoft's Corporate Equality Index rating to 100%, putting it among the most progressive companies in the world.

Related Topics:
2004 - Human Rights Campaign - LGBT - Lesbian - Gay - Bisexual - Transexual - Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft - Gender expression

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However, Microsoft also received criticism from the Human Rights Campaign and many others in April 2005 for withdrawing support for Washington's H.B. 1515 bill that would extend the state's current anti-discrimination laws to people with alternate sexual orientations{{ref|hrc_1515withdraw}}. However, under harsh criticism from both outside and inside the company's walls Microsoft eventually supported the bill again in May 2005 {{ref|hrc_1515support}}.

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Criticism

Microsoft has been the focus of much controversy in the computer industry, especially since the 1980s, most critically for its business tactics, which some perceive as unfair and anticompetitive. Microsoft has also been called a "velvet sweatshop" in reference to the corporation working its employees to the point where it might be bad for their health. The first instance of the term in reference to Microsoft originated from a Seattle Times article in 1989, and later became used to describe the company by some of Microsoft's own employees. {{ref|seattletimesvelvetsweatshop}}{{ref|msjvelvetsweatshop}}

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Some also accuse Microsoft of allowing the user interface of its products to become inconsistent and overly complicated, requiring interactive "wizards" to function as an extra layer between the user and the interface. In addition, the security of Microsoft products (such as Internet Explorer) are seen as overly vulnerable to computer viruses and malicious attacks. Free software and critics are engaged with Microsoft in a debate over the Total cost of ownership (TCO) of its products, as some perceive Microsoft software as more expensive to purchase, use and maintain than competitors' software. Many Free software advocates also criticize Microsoft for their end user license agreements (EULAs) which they say are too restrictive, as well as Microsoft's usage of Digital Rights Management, which places restrictions on digital media content which some believe leads to a loss of their rights.

Related Topics:
Free software - End user license agreement - EULA - Digital Rights Management

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