Microsoft, founded in 1975, is the corporation behind Microsoft Windows and Azure.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 4, 1975. The company first became known for developing software for microcomputers, including its BASIC interpreter. Its agreement to provide an operating system for IBM-compatible personal computers helped make MS-DOS widely used.
Windows later became Microsoft’s best-known consumer operating-system brand. The company also built major businesses in productivity software, enterprise services, gaming, search, and cloud computing. Azure is Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform and competes with services such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.
Microsoft’s market capitalization reflects investors’ valuation of all its public shares. It is not a separate value for Windows or Azure alone. The company’s diversified businesses and recurring software subscriptions have helped make it one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded corporations.