Most of you reading this post are probably doing it on a PC or laptop powered by a Microsoft Operation System or even reading it on the Internet Explorer browser. Love them or hate them, the realms of computers, software, mobile phones and gaming would be less advanced without them.
Here are 15 Interesting Facts About Microsoft
1. The company was founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates (childhood friends with a passion in computer programming) on the 4th of April 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the USA.
2. Bill Gates initially wrote the company name as “Micro-soft”, which made sense considering that’s its a combination of the words “microcomputer” and “software”.
3. Pioneering musician Brian Eno was the musical brain behind the Microsoft Windows 95 start-up tune (which has been dubbed “The Microsoft Sound”).
4. Ever since the company launched their first operating system the company has worked on its projects under codenames. Apparently Bill Gates was ready to launch Windows under the name “Interface Manager” before he was persuaded to change it by an employee. Past codenames include “Longhorn”, “Lone Star” and “Vienna”.
5. Microsoft holds over 10,000 patentsand files around 3,000 every year, ranking as one of the top five patent owners in the United States. A large majority of the patents relate to obscure elements of software.
The 5000th and 10000th were consumer-friendly, easily-understandable ideas. The 5,000th was for tech in Xbox 360 games that lets people “watch” a video game remotely, while the 10,000th was for the Microsoft Surface, linking real-life objects with data and images.
6. Microsoft reported earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2020, including revenue up 13% to $38.0 billion, net income of $11.2 billion, and earnings per share of $1.46 (compared to revenue of $33.7 billion, net income of $13.2 billion, and earnings per share of $1.71 in Q4 2019). Source: VentureBeat
7. Bill Gates has not been the CEO of Microsoft since 2000 (when he handed over the position to Steve Ballmer). He effectively retired in 2008 and now advises the company on key projects.
8. The company entered the gaming console market in 2001 when they launched the Xbox. It has since been followed up with the launch of the Xbox 360 in 2005. According to the latest figures, more than 66 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold globally since its launch.
9. The first version of Windows was launched on the 20th November 1985. According to stats released recently Windows still dominates the PC market – over 89% of the world’s computers use it as an Operating System today.
10. Internet Explorer (originally called Microsoft Internet Explorer) was officially launched in August 1995. According to statistics released in September 2011 Internet Explorer now has 38.9% web browser usage share on the World Wide Web.
11. Microsoft completed their acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $75 billion in October 2023.
12. Microsoft introduced Copilot in May 2023. Copilot is an AI-powered tool that helps users with tasks in Windows and Microsoft 365.
13. Sonoma County, California, was the location of the most famous Windows desktop backgrounds; the field with a blue sky, or “Bliss” to give its official name, the photo was taken in 1996.
14. The well-known and frequently played PC time waster Solitaire was actually given as a game for quite an interesting reason. The game is based on a premise that the user drags the cards to the relevant match, in turn educating a user on how to ‘drag and drop’.
15. After an unfortunate naming abbreviation mishap in Windows 98 with the Critical Update Notification Tool, the program was renamed to Utility to form CUNU.
There you go, 15 interesting facts about Microsoft. If you have anything interesting to add to this list, please comment on this post. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here.
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