Microsoft Today

First off, we can't talk Microsoft without acknowledging what was truly their first acquisition, MS-DOS. In 1980, after not being able to reach a license agreement with a competitor, IBM tasked Microsoft with developing or licensing an operating system for their upcoming IBM 5150 Personal Computer. Microsoft had already been hired to write the BASIC programming language for the PC, but now they had asked for them to provide the OS to go with it.

No sweat, said Microsoft… DOS, which was developed as QDOS (Quick-and-Dirty Operating System) and originally launched as 86-DOS the company Seattle Computer Products. 86-DOS had been written by Tim Paterson - the owner and operator of Seattle Computer Products, in just six weeks' time. So rather than re-invent the wheel Microsoft paid Tim Paterson just $75,000 in the summer of 1981 for version 1.10 of 86-DOS.

Upon receiving PC-DOS in July, Microsoft simply renamed it to MS-DOS 1.10 and handed it off to IBM in August of 1981, who decided to license it for distribution in November of the same year. From 1981 until 1993, IBM utilized a branded version of MS-DOS on their systems, known as PC DOS… and while IBM offered alternative operating systems for its PCs throughout the years, Microsoft's licensed version of MS-DOS was sold on more than 9 out of every 10 IBM PCs sold - thus cementing Microsoft's place in history as a software behemoth. 

Microsoft had been around for five years before being award the operating system contract by IBM, and while they may have survived or even thrived without the PC-DOS deal - there is no denying that their successful sales pitch to IBM changed the trajectory of the company, and the world forever. 

• 1987, Microsoft acquired Forethought, which had a little know      presentation program that would later be known as Microsoft      PowerPoint
• 1997, Microsoft acquired Hotmail.com as an integral part of their      push for MSN.com leading up to the release of Windows XP
• 2000, Microsoft acquired the Visio Corporation whose diagraming program was rebranded as Microsoft Visio
• 2002, Microsoft purchased Navision for their ERP (enterprise      resource planning) technologies which kicked off a new division of the company, Microsoft Business Solutions which has lead us to what we now call Microsoft Dynamics
• 2007-2008, in escalated efforts to keep pace with Google's massive ad revenue, Microsoft acquired aQuantive and its subsidiaries which included Avenue A/Razorefish, followed quickly by Fast Search and Transfer
• 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype and created a new division of the company to house the chat and VOIP solution, a move that was      surprising to some due to the technology behind Skype (Delphi)
• 2012, acquired Yammer, an enterprise social      networking service used for private communication within organizations
• 2013, acquired Nokia in a last ditch effort by      then CEO Steve Ballmer to save Microsoft in the competitive mobile space
• 2014, acquired Minecraft and its parent company for $2.5 Billion, shocking the world
  • A move that has already paid for itself ten-fold
• 2016, acquired business social networking platform LinkedIn 

Automation - The application of machines to tasks once performed by human beings or, increasingly, to tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Although the term mechanization is often used to refer to the simple replacement of human labour by machines, automation generally implies the integration of machines into a self-governing system. Automation has revolutionized those areas in which it has been introduced, and there is scarcely an aspect of modern life that has been unaffected by it.

Machine learning - the discipline concerned with the implementation of computer software that can learn autonomously. Expert systems and data mining programs are the most common applications for improving algorithms through the use of machine learning. Among the most common approaches are the use of artificial neural networks (weighted decision paths) and genetic algorithms (symbols “bred” and culled by algorithms to produce successively fitter programs).

Automation is not a new concept. Cotton gin, Steam engine, Industrial revolution, Computers. Bill Gates is often attributed with a quote: I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.

Bill probably didn't say that, but it doesn't make it a bad quote. Humans have always looked for easier ways to do hard jobs. Which brings us to, CGP Grey's 2014 YouTube film, Human's Need Not Apply - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

Microsoft -   

• Microsoft Research
  • Project Brainwave 
• Microsoft AI - Deep Neural Network, Bing Decision Engine
• Azure Datacenters (Intel FPGA)
• Azure Machine Learning
• Azure Logic Apps
  • Workflow Definition Language
  • Microsoft Flow
  • PowerApps
  • SharePoint
• Microsoft Bot Framework
  • Zo AI
• Office 365
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Data Connectors and APIs
• Windows 10 IoT
• Cortana