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Microsoft is an American multibillion dollar global corporation known for it's success in the computer and electronics market. Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico by co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen. This company's genesis is marked by it's release of the, at the time, revolutionary operating system, MS-DOS in 1981.  Users entered command prompts (C:) in order to signal the computer to function in certain ways. On August 24th, 1995, the heavily anticipated Windows 95 was released. This operating system had a wide range of new capabilities including the trademark 'Start' button, internet functionality, and advanced multimedia capability. Microsoft claims "It's the most publicized launch Microsoft has ever taken on." Windows 95 sparked the beginning of the golden age for Microsoft. It's interface redefined the way we compute. Windows 95 essentially set the basic layout of what we use today in the latest Windows operating systems. Windows 95 was followed by the releases of Windows 98, Windows 2000, eventually Windows XP and now, Windows 7. The growth of this corporation can easily be traced back to the release of each of it's computer operating systems. Today, the company engages in many aspects of the digital world through it's office suite software, Microsoft Office, it's video game console, 'Xbox,' and it's consumer electronics products such as the 'Zune' and the Windows Phone operating system. The current company revenue for the fiscal year of 2011 is 69.94 billion dollars.


Microsoft has been consistently making changes and simultaneously producing new products to keep up with the arms race in this ever-upgrading digital world. Just some of the new products in it's line-up include the highly anticipated Windows 8 operating system and it's revolutionary tabletop technology Microsoft Surface. Windows 8 is a tablet/personal computer hybrid system that works to bring together the aspect of personal computing along with direct interaction with the user through touch-screen and through integrated applications. The interface is expected to have a interface layout reminiscent of the Windows mobile phone interface. Also, touch functionality will play a much more significant role in this next operating system.


On the other hand, "Microsoft Surface" is the future. It allows us to bring any ordinary tabletop to life through a 360 degree, touch-screen. It sees and responds to touch and real-world objects making it possibly one of the most interactive digital tools of this age. The table-top technology is also expected to recognize and sync with personal hand-held devices. Microsoft Surface will revolutionize human interaction with digital content. Technology, such as this, definitely brings us one step closer to what we see in company Corning's "A Day Made of Glass" video (linked below).

A Day Made of Glass by Corning Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

In addition, Microsoft's release of it's new bundle of "Live Tools" and even it's recent purchase of Skype are all a part of the game plan in this digital age. They are expanding in all aspects of the digital world, including social networking, computer and electronics, and technological breakthrough. Investment in this field may be the only way for such a corporation to make it through.