Microsoft was founded in 1975.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen established Microsoft on April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their first major product was a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800, an early hobbyist microcomputer.
The company's name originally appeared as “Micro-Soft,” combining “microcomputer” and “software.” Microsoft later moved its headquarters to the Seattle area, where it became a major force in personal-computer software.
MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows drove the company's growth during the 1980s and 1990s. Microsoft subsequently expanded into enterprise software, cloud computing through Azure, gaming through Xbox, and hardware such as Surface devices.