Brief History of Microsoft and Its Office Suite

Over the past decade, Microsoft has produced its best selling software devices for computer products such as Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite. In 2007, the Microsoft Corporation generated $51.12 billion and its product market share estimated as 90% in 2003 for Microsoft Office and 2006 for Microsoft Windows. In the mid-1980’s, Microsoft dominated the home computer operating system and has been accused of being monopolistic, although considered a developer centric-business culture.  The company’s website is one of the most visited on the World Wide Web having received more than 2.4 million page views. In the founding years between 1975-1985, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems were founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico then later moved to Bellevue, Washington of January 1, 1979, and then Bill Gates succeeded as CEO in 1980.
DOS (Disk Operating System) had brought the company real success. In 1981, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft for providing a version of the CPM operating system that would become IBM Personal Computer. In the 1990’s, Microsoft rose and launched Windows 3.0. the new operating system introducing new features. Windows generated more revenue popularity, and became the favored PC. Then Microsoft went onto release Windows NT. 3.1 and Windows 95. Furthermore, it expanded its product line into computer networking and the World Wide Web.
Then afterwards, MSN network became a major online service competing against AOL and went along with NBC to create a new 24/7 cable news station MSNBC. In 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP that changed the face of the old fashioned Windows. Then the Windows XP Home Edition and Windows Vista. “Since the 1980’s, Microsoft has been the focus of much controversy in the computer industry. Most criticism has been for its business tactics, often described with the motto “embrace, extend and extinguish” Microsoft initially embraces a competition standard or product, then extends it to produce their own incompatible version of the software or standard, which in time extinguishes competition that does not or cannot use Microsoft’s new version” (Rodger, 1998).