Microsoft Corporation (Coursework Sample)

Julio Llerena
ENC 1101
Professor Duasso
July 16, 2015
The Greatness Invention: Microsoft Bill Gates was born in Seattle on October 28, 1955, to his parents, Mary and William Gates II. Gates went to Harvard University but dropped out in 1974 to create Microsoft with Paul Allen, who was very close with Bill Gates since childhood. Gates officially announced Microsoft, a next generation operating system on November 10, 1983. While Gates was working with the Computer Centers PDP-10, he handled creating the first computer virus. In 1988, Gates was worth around $39 billion, making him the wealthiest man on the whole planet (Francis par, 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 13). According to Pascal, " In 1975 Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen, two boyhood friends from Seattle, converted BASIC, the Altair. Shortly afterward, Gates and Allen founded Microsoft" (par. 1). Gates and Paul created BASIC, a popular mainframe computer programming language, for use on an early personal computer and founded Microsoft later on (par. 1). Microsoft can be defined as, "Technology Corporation that focuses on the development and implementation of software used on computers and the World Wide Web". ("Definition", par. 1). In other words, Microsoft develops, supports, manufactures, licenses, and sells computer software, consumer, personal computers and electronics and services (par. 1). According to the company's own financial year, "In 2013, Microsoft reported a new record of 77.85 billion U.S. dollars revenue" (Microsoft's global revenue in the fiscal years from 2002 and 2014, par. 1). Microsoft made a new record of 77.85 billion dollars, and he donated a total of $110,000, a bunch of computers, and provided internet connectivity to the number of schools (par. 15). Hence, it is the Microsoft Company that has become the template of the American success story. Microsoft Corporation has made two successful Offices software’s that it made them famous for. Each year they improved them with new versions and adding new functions. The first type is Excel, and it was a spreadsheet program titled Multiplan and with the dominant Lotus 1-2-3, which was released in 1982. Microsoft released Excel in 1987 for windows and in 1985 for Mac, which was the first time selling in the mainstream computer software market (Weems par. 1). According to Weems, "Microsoft was able to push Lotus off of its position as the top spreadsheet seller and was able to begin showing off its future visions for developing GUI software" (par. 3). By the time that Lotus 1-2-3 was able to get its program into the mainstream, Excel was already outselling of the competition (par. 1). The other type is PowerPoint, and it used to composed of text, create slideshows and can be displayed on the screen. The first version of PowerPoint was called Presenter, but later they renamed for copyright issues. The one who developed PowerPoint was by Bob Gaskins and Dennis Austin, a University of California student in 1984. When Microsoft acquired it, PowerPoint was already a mass success, release for the Macintosh and selling more on its first day than other software in history at the time (Hewitt par. 3). The most effective PowerPoint presentations, "…are used to highlight important points in a presentation, rather than to have the presenter directly read off of the slide" (Hewitt par. 4). It’s also very effective for presenting graphs and other data representations. PowerPoint integrated the use of graphic and animations with allowing a user to embed videos (par. 4). However, Excel a spreadsheet program and PowerPoint to present presentation have many functions. Many people used this software on a daily basis, and they became successful. This case discusses how Bill Gates created Microsoft and his vision of success. Gates and Allen started the new company of their own, Tarf-O-Data, and they developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From that project, their revenue was around $20.000. The era of Taf- O- Data came to an end when Gates left the college (Francis par. 4). According to Francis, "in 1975, before graduation Gates left Harvard to form Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen" (par. 4). Bill Gates left Harvard during his junior year, and Microsoft became famous for their operating system (par. 5). According to Bill Gates Leadership, "Microsoft began when IBM approach Gates to develop software for their systems; eventually Gates created the MS-DOS program for IBM which he held the copyright" (par. 4). Gates developed software for an IBM; short for International Business Machines and created a software the MS-DOS, an operating system for x86-based personal computers (Shustek par. 4). On November 10, 1983, Microsoft officially announced Microsoft window, a next generation operating system (par 6). Microsoft’s vision is "A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer" (Francis par. 15). Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in the high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. Microsoft has many competitors in many fields of technology and web browser, offered by some of the well-known corporations such as Google and Apple. The popular Windows operating system is perhaps the most prominent Microsoft product. In this area, the company competes with a number of smaller firms, such as Red Hat, that distribute open-sources operating systems such as Linux (Who are Microsoft's (MSFT) main competitors? par. 3). In 2015, "Microsoft reported Total Revenue increase by 6.5 % year on year" ("MSFT Sales vs. its Competitors Q1" par. 1). Microsoft is dominating the market by 6.5%, and the competitor’s average revenue was by 5.13% recorded in the same year (par 1). Microsoft is also an important factor in online search with its Bing search engine. The main competitor company here is Google, along with various other firms with smaller engines (Who are Microsoft's (MSFT) main competitors? par.5). Microsoft is also an essential player in the hardware field. Its products include tablets designed to compete with similar devices made by other companies (par. 4). Microsoft presents a new Surface Pro 3 "tablet might finally be gaining some traction for Microsoft in the tablet market, but the whole Surface venture has come at an enormous cost" (Reed par. 1). Microsoft revealed that lost 1.7 billion on its Surface line of tablets so far, and the revenue was 900 million (par. 1). Microsoft faces competitive pressures in all areas of its operations. The pressure comes from a diverse mix of technology companies, both large and small. Microsoft released the Xbox, a gaming console that quickly captured second place in the video gaming market and became well-known over time. In 2005, they released a more powerful gaming console, the Xbox 360. It was an intensely competitive market, where Microsoft faced intense pressure from the Nintendo and Sony, at the beginning they struggled through the years to make profits from its console (Hall par. 7). According to Hall, "In 2009 the company cut the price of the Xbox 360 Elite by as much as 25 percent to pick up market share" (par. 7). The strategy was effective; by 2010 the Xbox 360 was the most-used game console Worldwide (par. 7). Several of the most anticipated games for the Xbox, such as "Halo" and "Left for Dead”, were developed by Microsoft meaning that they keep the majority of the $40-to$50 price tag. Third- Party companies, for each copy they sell, they must pay a licensing fee to Microsoft (Morris par. 16). As reported by Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer told CNN/Money that "sales rates are going to be a little bit less important. What's paramount is how we're setting up for the next two, three, four years" (Morris par. 14). At the beginning, Microsoft was h...