Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 is a multinational corporation

Multinational corporation

A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...

 based in Redmond, Washington, USA and founded by Bill Gates

Bill Gates

William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...

 and Paul Allen

Paul Allen

Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...

 that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

. Due to the scope and size of the company, it encompasses a broad range of topics mostly revolving around critical analysis and the company's products and services.

Lists

• List of assets owned by Microsoft Corporation
  • List of mergers and acquisitions by Microsoft
• List of Control Panel applets (Windows)
• List of Games for Windows titles
• List of Macintosh software published by Microsoft
• List of Microsoft - Nortel (ICA) products
• List of Microsoft codenames
• List of Microsoft DOS versions
  • List of DOS commands
• List of Microsoft Office programs
• List of Microsoft operating systems
• List of Microsoft software applications
• List of Microsoft server technology
• List of Microsoft Visual Studio add-ins
• List of Microsoft Windows components
• List of Microsoft Windows application programming interfaces and frameworks
• List of Microsoft Windows fonts
• List of Microsoft Windows versions

Analysis

• Criticism of Microsoft
  Criticism of Microsoft
  Criticism of Microsoft has followed various aspects of its products and business practices. Issues with ease of use, stability, and security of the company's software are common targets for critics. In the 2000s, a number of malware attacks have targeted security flaws in Microsoft Windows and...
  
  
• Microsoft litigation
  Microsoft litigation
  Microsoft has been involved in numerous high-profile litigations over the history of the company, including cases against the United States, the European Union, and competitors.-Governmental:In its 2008 annual report, Microsoft stated:-Anti-trust:...
  
  
• Microsoft interview
  Microsoft interview
  The Microsoft interview is a job interview technique used by Microsoft to assess possible future Microsoft employees. It is significant because Microsoft's model was pioneering, and later picked up and developed by other companies including Amazon, Facebook, and Google .-Innovation:The Microsoft...
  
  
• Studies related to Microsoft
  Studies related to Microsoft
  There have been a number of studies related to Microsoft. They are a source of great controversies, since the studies are often funded by people or companies having a stake in one of the sides, and there are a lot of advocates on both sides....
  
  

Devices

• Actimates
  Actimates
  ActiMates were a series of interactive toys released by Microsoft in February, 1997, which were in the form of licensed dolls which could interact with certain episodes of their respective television series on VHS videocassette which were bundled with the dolls....
  
   − Set of toys (discontinued) developed by Microsoft.
• Pocket PC
  Pocket PC
  A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
  
  
• Microsoft Mouse
• Microsoft Natural keyboard
  Microsoft Natural keyboard
  The Microsoft Natural Keyboard is a computer keyboard that was introduced by Microsoft in 1994. The keyboard was a split keyboard with each half of the keyboard separated and tilted upwards and down from the center of the keyboard...
  
  
• Xbox
  Xbox
  The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
  
  
• Xbox 360
  Xbox 360
  The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
  
  
• UMPC
• SideWinder family
  Microsoft SideWinder
  Microsoft SideWinder is the general name given to the family of digital game controllers developed by Microsoft for PCs. Although intended only for use with Microsoft Windows, Microsoft SideWinder game controllers can also be used with Apple's Mac OS X and Linux .The SideWinder describes many types...
  
  
• Digital Sound System 80
  Digital Sound System 80
  The Digital Sound System 80, short DSS80, was a three-piece PC audio system co-developed by Microsoft and Philips. It debuted on the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo and is most likely the only speaker system ever released by the Microsoft Corporation...
  
  
• Microsoft Zune
• Microsoft Surface
  Microsoft Surface
  Microsoft Surface is a multi-touch product from Microsoft which is developed as a software and hardware combination technology that allows a user, or multiple users, to manipulate digital content by the use of gesture recognition. This could involve the motion of hands or physical objects. It was...
  
  

Segments and subsidiaries

• Microsoft Studios
  Microsoft Studios
  Microsoft Studios is the digital media production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the creation, aggregation, distribution, management and measurement of content...
  
   − A division responsible for the creation of video content for Microsoft and its partners.
• Microsoft Research
  Microsoft Research
  Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
  
   - A division responsible for the research of computer science.
• MSNBC
  MSNBC
  MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
  
   - A television station formerly co-owned by Microsoft; Microsoft is now merely a shareholder.
• Slate
  Slate (magazine)
  Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
  
   - Current affairs magazine created by Microsoft and later sold to the Washington Post Company
  Washington Post Company
  The Washington Post Company is an American education and media company, best known for owning the newspaper for which it is named, The Washington Post. The Company also owns Kaplan, Inc., a leading international provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses...
  
  .

Partnerships and specifications

• Infrastructure optimization
• PCsafety
  Pcsafety
  PC Safety is a toll-free telephone number provided by Microsoft technical support for end-users that assists customers in removing malware infections such as viruses, spyware , and adware. It also helps customers protect their computers by using Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and Windows...
  
   − Part of Microsoft's technical support that deals with malware and virus issues.
• Virus Information Alliance
  Virus Information Alliance
  The Virus Information Alliance is an international partnership created by the Microsoft Corporation in association with various antivirus software vendors...
  
   – An international partnership created by the Microsoft Corporation in association with various antivirus vendors.
• Ultra Mobile PC − Joint specification by Microsoft and others for a small form factor tablet PC.
• Volume license key
  Volume license key
  Volume License Key is a term used by many computer software companies to denote the product key used when installing software licensed under volume licensing, which allows a single product key to be used for multiple installations....
  
  
• Microsoft Partner Ecosystem
  Microsoft Partner Ecosystem
  The Microsoft Partner Ecosystem, also known as the Microsoft Partner Network or MPN is Microsoft Inc.’s partner network. It was formerly known as the Microsoft Partner Program or MSPP. It is designed to make resources available to a wide variety of technology companies so they can build a business...
  
  - The hundreds of thousands of Microsoft partner companies who build solutions on top of Microsoft Software or who resell Microsoft Software.