Microsoft

Founded in 1975 for the purpose of developing and selling BASIC interpreters, Microsoft truly became the powerhouse it is today with its development of MS-DOS in the 1980s. That product and the subsequent Windows series of operating systems (or OS) catapulted Microsoft to dominance in the home computer OS sector. The company is currently a multinational corporation that develops, manufactures and licenses numerous software products for computing devices. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington and its most profitable product is it Windows operating system. The Microsoft Office suite of productivity software is also among its more profitable products. The company, however, has holdings in a wide range of other markets including assets like MSNBC, the MSN internet portal, MSN TV, and Xbox. Microsoft's business groups include its Products and Services Division, Business Division, and Entertainment and Devices Division. The Microsoft Products and Services Division includes its flagship product – the Windows operating system; it also encapsulates MSN online service, Bing, Windows Live, MSNBC, and Windows Server Systems. The Microsoft Business Division comprises of the Microsoft Office suite and Microsoft Dynamics. The Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division includes products such as the Windows Mobile platform, MSN TV, Microsoft Zone, Xbox, Xbox 360, the Zune, computer games, and computer-relate­d hardware products.