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.

Product divisions

Microsoft sells a wide range of software products—many of these products were developed internally, such as Microsoft BASIC and Microsoft Word. Others were acquired and rebranded by Microsoft for distribution, including Microsoft Project, a project management package; Visio, a charting package; FoxPro, a database; Links, a golf game; Visual SourceSafe, a developer's tool; DoubleSpace; Virtual PC, acquired from Connectix; and MS-DOS itself, the basis for the company's success. Many of these have seen continued development by Microsoft. Internet Explorer is based on code licensed from Spyglass, Inc., and main development was initially performed outside Redmond in Spyglass headquarters.

Related Topics:
Microsoft BASIC - Microsoft Word - Rebranded - Microsoft Project - Visio - FoxPro - Database - Golf - Visual SourceSafe - DoubleSpace - Virtual PC - Connectix - MS-DOS - Internet Explorer - Spyglass, Inc. - Redmond

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In April 2002, Microsoft reorganized into seven core business groups, each with its own financial reporting to delegate all responsibility and more closely track the performance of each unit. On September 20th 2005 Microsoft announced they cut down the original seven business groups down to three core business divisions. The Windows Client group, MSN group, and Server and Tools group were merged into the Microsoft Platform Products & Services Division. The Information Worker group and Microsoft Business Solutions group were merged into the Microsoft Business Division. Finally, the Mobile and Embedded Devices group and Home and Entertainment group were merged into the Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division. {{ref|msproductgroups}} {{ref|sep2005groupreorg}}

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Microsoft Platform Products & Services Division

This division produces Microsoft's flagship product, the Windows operating system. It has been produced in many versions including Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Almost all IBM compatible personal computers designed for the consumer come with Windows preinstalled. The next planned version of Windows is Windows Vista (code-named Windows Longhorn). The online service MSN (Microsoft Network), the cable television station MSNBC, and the Microsoft online magazine Slate, are all part of this division as well. Slate was later acquired by The Washington Post in December 21, 2004. At the end of 1997, Microsoft acquired Hotmail, the first and most popular webmail service, which it rebranded as "MSN Hotmail". Later in 1999 Microsoft introduced MSN Messenger, an instant messaging client, to compete with the popular AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

Related Topics:
Flagship - Operating system - Windows 98 - Windows XP - Windows Server 2003 - IBM compatible - Personal computers - Windows Vista - Code-named - Windows Longhorn - Online service - MSN - MSNBC - Slate - The Washington Post - 1997 - Hotmail - Webmail - 1999 - MSN Messenger - Instant messaging - AOL Instant Messenger

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Microsoft Visual Studio is the company's set of programming tools and compilers. It is GUI oriented and links easily with the Windows APIs, but must be specially configured if used with non-Microsoft libraries. The current version is Visual Studio .NET 2003, named after the .NET initiative, which is a Microsoft marketing initiative covering a number of different technologies. Microsoft's definition of .NET continues to emerge over time. As of 2004, .NET aims to ease the development of Microsoft Windows-based applications that use the Internet by using a new Microsoft communications system called Indigo. It will correct some problems previously introduced by Microsoft's DLL design which made it difficult to manage, install multiple versions of complex software packages on the same system (see DLL-hell) and provide a more consistent development platform for all Windows applications (see Common Language Infrastructure, also known as CLI).

Related Topics:
Microsoft Visual Studio - Programming - Compilers - Windows API - Visual Studio .NET - .NET - As of 2004 - Indigo - DLL-hell - Common Language Infrastructure

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Microsoft also offers a suite of server software, called Windows Server System. Windows Server 2003, an operating system for network servers, is the core of the Windows Server System line. Another server product, Systems Management Server, is a collections of tools that provide remote control, patch management, software distribution, and hardware/software inventory. In addition, Microsoft has a set of certification programs to recognize individuals who have expertise in their server software as well as their other products and solutions. Similar to offerings from Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Novell, IBM, and Oracle, these tests are designed to identify a minimal set of proficiencies in a specific role which can include developers ("Microsoft Certified Solution Developer" MCSD), system/network analysts ("Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer" MCSE), trainers ("Microsoft Certified Trainers" MCT) and administrators ("Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator" MCSA).

Related Topics:
Server - Windows Server System - Windows Server 2003 - Systems Management Server - Cisco - Sun Microsystems - Novell - IBM - Oracle - MCSD - MCSE - Microsoft Certified Trainers - MCSA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Microsoft Business Division

Division which produces Microsoft Office, which is the company's line of office software. It includes Word (a word processor), Access (a personal relational database application), Excel (a spreadsheet program), Outlook (Windows-only groupware, frequently used with the Exchange server), PowerPoint (presentation software) and Microsoft FrontPage, a WYSIWYG HTML editor. With the release of Office 2003, a number of other products were brought under the Office banner, including Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Project, Microsoft MapPoint, Microsoft InfoPath, Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft OneNote. Microsoft also produces Microsoft Office for Apple Macintosh computers, which includes Entourage, a Macintosh-specific application not available in the Windows version of Microsoft Office, instead of Outlook.

Related Topics:
Microsoft Office - Word - Access - Excel - Spreadsheet - Outlook - Groupware - Exchange - PowerPoint - Microsoft FrontPage - WYSIWYG - HTML editor - Microsoft Visio - Microsoft Project - Microsoft MapPoint - Microsoft InfoPath - Microsoft Publisher - Microsoft OneNote - Apple Macintosh - Entourage

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The division also focuses on developing financial and business management software for companies. Other products produced by the division include products formerly produced by the Business Solutions Group, which was created in April 2001 with the acquisition of Great Plains. Subsequently, Navision was acquired to provide a similar entry into the European market. (The acquisition resulted in the planned release during the week of 18 October 2004, of Microsoft Navision 4.0. The group also sells Axapta and Solomon, catering to similar markets. The division will combine their Navision, Great Plains, Axapta, and Solomon lines into a common platform called Microsoft Dynamics.

Related Topics:
April 2001 - Great Plains - Navision - 18 October - 2004 - Axapta - Microsoft Dynamics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division

Microsoft has attempted to expand the Windows brand into many other markets, with products such as Windows CE for PDAs and its "Windows powered" Smartphone products. Microsoft initially entered the Mobile market through Windows CE for handheld devices, which today has developed into Windows Mobile 2003. The operating system's focus is on devices where the OS may not directly be visible to the end user, e.g., appliances and cars. The company also produces MSN TV, formerly WebTV, a television-based internet appliance. Microsoft also sold a set-top Digital Video Recorder (DVR) called the UltimateTV, which allowed users to record up to 35 hours of television programming from direct-to-home satellite television provider DirecTV. This was the main competition in the UK for bSKYb's SKY + service, owned by Rupert Murdoch. UltimateTV has since been discontinued, with DirecTV instead opting to market DVRs from TiVo Inc.

Related Topics:
Windows CE - PDA - MSN TV - WebTV - Internet appliance - Digital Video Recorder - UltimateTV - DirecTV - BSKYb - Rupert Murdoch - TiVo

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Microsoft sells computer games that run on Windows PCs, including titles such as Age of Empires and the Microsoft Flight Simulator series. It also produces a line of reference works which include encyclopedias and atlases, under the name Encarta. Microsoft Zone hosts free premium and retail games where players can compete against each other and in tournaments. Microsoft entered the multibillion-dollar game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo in late 2001, with the release of the Xbox. Currently the console ranks second to Sony's PlayStation 2 and ahead of Nintendo's GameCube in market share in the United States (although behind the two worldwide). Microsoft develops and publishes its own video games for this console, and in addition, "third party" Xbox video game publishers such as Electronic Arts and Activision can pay a license fee to publish games for the system. The next scheduled version of the Xbox is the Xbox 360. In addition, Microsoft also produces a number of computing-related hardware products including mice, keyboards, joysticks, and gamepads along with other game controllers.

Related Topics:
Computer games - Age of Empires - Microsoft Flight Simulator - Encyclopedia - Atlas - Encarta - Microsoft Zone - Game console - Sony - Nintendo - 2001 - Xbox - PlayStation 2 - GameCube - Video games - Third party - Electronic Arts - Activision - Xbox 360 - Mice - Keyboard - Joystick - Gamepad - Game controller

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~