Microsoft Corporation, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft is the world's largest software company with over 50,000 employees in various countries as of May 2004. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for various computing devices. Its most popular products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office families of products, each of which has achieved near ubiquity in the desktop computer market.

The company's aggressive business practices led to several governmental investigations, including a 1998 federal lawsuit that found Microsoft to have illegally used its monopoly power to defeat its competitors. Through appeals and negotiated settlements, Microsoft mitigated the adverse effects of this ruling on its operations and financial status.
Microsoft's mission statement is "to enable people and businesses to realize their full potential."


          Type      Public (NASDAQ: MSFT)
    Founded      Albuquerque, New Mexico (1975)
    Location      Redmond, WA
Key people      Bill Gates, Founder & Chairman
                       Paul Allen, Founder
                       Steve Ballmer, CEO
     Industry     Computer software,
                       Video games
    Products      Microsoft Office
                       Microsoft Windows
                       Xbox
                       MSN
    Revenue     $36.8 billion USD (2004) 
    Website      www.microsoft.com

For more information, click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft