What future can wait for the two young hackers who broke into the security system of one of the Seattle companies? The first of them managed to get to Harvard but then left it without graduating. The second also left studies in Stanford to work on his own. Soon they created the company whose annual income exceeded 1 million dollars just in four years.
Microsoft Company was born on April 4, 1975. It was founded by two school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Gates has become the CEO. The name they gave to the company derives from two words: microcomputer and software.
Though the company was established in New Mexico, it changed its headquarters two times within the next 11 years. In 1979 they moved to Bellevue and 7 years later the administration has chosen Redmond, where the headquarters of Microsoft are settled till now. Today the company owns more than 14 million sq. feet.
During these 40 years Microsoft developed a line of operating systems starting with MS-DOS and up to Windows 10 as well as all the associated programs. It would be a mistake to think that such activity is the only thing Microsoft has. The company also developed hardware – like Microsoft Mouse 1.0, released in 1983.
Today’s most famous products are Xbox and Microsoft Surface. The separate department is engaged in making computers more friendly for people with disabilities. Moreover, Microsoft bought more than 150 different companies. For example, the first integrated company was Forethought which developed the program now known as PowerPoint. In 2011 Microsoft bought Skype and in 2013 it absorbed Finnish mobile company Nokia. The most recent acquisition is the Swedish company Mojang AB which developed the well-known game Minecraft.
Nowadays Microsoft is not just a company with the worldwide acquisition. It has almost become one of America’s symbols. Definitely, it has also become a part of the world’s culture. No wonder it is mentioned so many times in different films and books. In the novel “A Thin Thread of Destiny” by Lara Prodan the best friend of Daria, Tomy Michael Wellington, after finishing Computer Science faculty of the University of Washington was invited to work on probation in Microsoft. The program written by the young man was considered to be the best of the kind. Michael’s father hopes that his son will soon be taken on the staff.
Another talented young man from Russia Vladimir also comes to work on the probation period in Microsoft. He is considered to be a genius. Actually, the experts say that America goes through a very difficult period these days. Recent reforms in education had the drop in the knowledge of Americans as a result. In its turn, Microsoft is unable to find all the employees it needs just inside the country. It has to invite qualified specialists from abroad. The management of the company says that the education level in the countries of Eastern Europe is still high and there are so many talented people coming to America.
Presently Microsoft is the biggest transnational software developing company and is considered to be one of the most expensive ones. Its programs have been translated into more than 45 languages and are used worldwide.