Microsoft: The Inception of Technology

Case Study

Abstract—"One thing I love about this [decade] is this is a period where the reality is driving the expectation" - Bill Gates, 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show.

“A computer on every desk and every home”, for decades ago that seemed to be a dream but now it has been true. Now-a-days people throughout the world are in search of new technologies and they want to buy the latest device be it computer, cell phone, tablet, etc… One of the leading corporations putting out the mind-bending technologies is no other than the Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft has been the new technological wave for innovations in the modern world and it is the leading technology provider in terms of computers, operating system, software, everyone was using Microsoft's products. One of the key product to the Microsoft success has been its operating system i.e. windows has surfaced as one of the most user friendly systems and it remains as a standard operating system for all PC users. Within no time Microsoft software has become an integral part of the way people think, work, live and has been a trademark for its products and services. There has been no real competition to the Window's operating system and Microsoft will most likely seems to maintain its dominance in this field. This led to a question whether Microsoft is abusing its monopoly power? It has been long debated whether or not Microsoft is a monopoly? Microsoft was accused of using its power in the operating systems market through its use of Windows' Internet Explorer web browser. This led to the question whether Microsoft had the legal rights to integrate its web browser with its operating system? Many people consider Microsoft as a competing firm rather than a monopolist firm because it acquired the top position through innovation and its superior products. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the evidence and legal issues that lead us to conclude Microsoft a monopoly or not.

Keywords-Microsoft; Window's Operating System; Monopoly

HISTORY OF MICROSOFT

The most significant form of technological revolution was seen in the early 1970s. In an era where at work people relied on typewriters to draft documents, where uses of mimeograph or carbon paper defined their duplication and very few were familiar with the ideology of microcomputers, two visionary computer aficionados, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, envisioned personal computing as an aisle to the future [1].

In order to realize their vision, Gates and Allen incorporated a company named Microsoft in the year 1975. Similar to most business start-ups, Microsoft emerged as a modest enterprise with limited resources at its disposal but had a vast outlook: To see a computer on every desktop for both personal as well as official use. In the years that followed, Microsoft began to reform the professional lives of every individual and how they operated in their workplace [1].

GROWTH OF MICROSOFT

1980's to 1990's

In June 1980, following the inception of Microsoft, Gates and Allen hired Steve Ballmer who was a fellow classmate ...