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IT 103-002
Apple Inc. Vs Microsoft
Microsoft Background
For twenty seven years Apple and Microsoft has been in what seems like a total war for brand supremacy, with no clear winner in sight (Levy/CBS). Microsoft has been an incorporated company since 1981, founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to the company’s incorporation Bill Gates and Paul Allen worked with the Altair company. The company really received its “big break” when they decided to partner with IBM and allow them to sell their MS-Dos operating system in their computers, which made the first ever PC available. Several years later the company developed its first Word processing program with the intention of creating the new operating system that would soon be one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The first ever Windows product shipped in November of 1985, only to be succeeded by Windows 3.1 in April of 1992.
It quickly became one of Microsoft’s most popular products. As the times began changing with the introduction of the internet Bill Gates decided that it was time for Microsoft to explore other fields, so in November 1995 Microsoft made the first ever Internet Explorer to compete with Netscape Navigation who up until that point had a monopoly on the sector. In 1997 the Microsoft/Apple feud came to a cease fire, which as told by later years was only a temporary situation. Due to Microsoft’s extreme success it has more than once been the target of the US Justice System, many cases having to do with the company having monopolies on the computer industry…
Several years after the introduction of Windows XP, the company turned its focus to the newest hot commodity, the cellular age. Windows Mobile was distributed in June of 2003. Since then Microsoft has gone on to emerge as a powerhouse in the world of next generation gaming as they have produced the ever popular Xbox 360. From there Microsoft has gone on to produce two more highly successful operating systems; the first being the less than flawless Windows Vista that was soon replaced by the state of the art Windows 7. There’s nothing but open water for Microsoft, and the only thing to do is to wait and see what happens next. (CBS)