Microsoft

Introduction



Microsoft Corporation was established in 1975 as a supplier of the DOS operating system and developer of programming languages for the first IBM personal computer.   Twenty-six years later, it has literally become the most powerful force in the software industry, earning chairman and co-founder (with Paul Allen) Bill Gates millions of dollars and a significant place in technology history.   Today the company is the worldwide leader for software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.



Strengths



Microsoft “has created tremendous value for America” with all the innovative software products it has developed, not to mention the thousands of jobs it has directly and indirectly created for Americans (Pohlman and Gardiner, p. 63).   Who can remember, anymore, what life was like without Windows?   We now have an entire generation of people who have never lived in a time when there was not Windows, and who wouldn’t know what do to if faced with a black AS/400 screen and function key commands as their only mode of computing.  



Weaknesses



Historically, Microsoft simply hasn’t had the talent it needs in-house to continually develop and maintain technologies needed in the marketplace.   In short, the company has made it big by buying other peoples’ ideas.   Still today, Microsoft’s staff lacks the experience to handle such concepts as enterprise software and distributed computing.   The majority of the company’s developers are young and inexperienced.   Microsoft has become notorious for “borrowing” the ideas of other companies and utilizing its own money and clout to bury its competitors.   The software giant has spent billions of dollars on investments and acquisitions, such as its 1999 $5 billion investment in AT&T.  



Opportunities



Over the years, Microsoft has taken every opportunity to lobby for international trade initiatives that...