Microsoft Corporation Forms

Microsoft is one of the world’s most recognized names in computer software, but the company began humbly with the efforts of two men sharing an interest in computer programming.  The two men, Bill Gates and Paul Allen teamed up to develop and sell Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) interpreters for the MITS Altair 8800, a build-it-yourself microcomputer.  MITS was so impressed with the interpreter design that the company immediately agreed to sell and market the product as the Altair BASIC in March of 1975.  Shortly after, Gates and Allen would officially establish their company.

On this day, April 4th, in 1975, Microsoft Corporation was started in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Gates was named CEO of the company. In a few short years, Microsoft would expand into the operating system (OS) business.  The company began by proving OS’s for several IBM personal computers,which it named MS-DOS and moved on to become the world’s leading PC operating system vendor.  Microsoft Windows would come into existence in 1984 and improved versions of the system have continued to dominate the office suite market today.

Today, Microsoft has branched out into the internet and video game industry without losing dominance in the computer software market.  Microsoft currently has over 90,000 employees and generated nearly $70 billion in revenue in 2011 alone.