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1975 Probably most people think that Microsoft was founded only by Bill Gates, but in fact, it was founded by two people namely, Paul Allen and Bill Gates. They formed the company in 1975. The Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) was the first software of the company. They hired a former classmate from Harvard to help them run Microsoft. They were approached by IM for a project named Chess and this is when they decided to focus on the operating system. An operating system is the software which manages a computer. The MS-DOS was distributed in 1981, but people generally found it difficult to use. 1982-1985 These were the years when Microsoft worked on the first version of their operating system. Interface Manager is supposed to be the code name and final name for the operating system, but in the end Windows was used because it best describes the creation. Windows was announced in 1983, but it took quite a while for it to be released.
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1990-1992
Windows 3.0 was released in 1990 and was followed by Windows 3.1 in 1992. These two were able to sell 10 million copies in two years. The features of Windows increased and it got better, including the graphics and the programs. This was also the time where floppy discs were installed. Around this time, there was also the release of the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) which helped developers on writing programs. Domain networking support and peer-to-peer groups domain networking was also introduced during this time.
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In 1995, they release Windows 95 which sold 7 million copies in just a little over a month. This was the time when the online world was introduced and a lot more media games and software. Faxes, modems, e-mail started becoming popular at this time. Windows 95 had internet support, dial-up networking and features for computing and networking. This is also when the Start menu, taskbar, minimize, maximize and close buttons were introduced. It was also in 1995 when the first version of the Internet Explorer was released. Windows 98, Me and 2000 Windows 98 was released in 1998 and it was designed for consumers. Improvements such as speed, reading of DVD discs and USB devices were added. The Quick Launch Bar also first appeared in this version of Windows. This was the last version of Window which was based on the MS- DOS
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1976 Apple was founded by Steven Wozniak and Steve Jobs. They were both drop-outs. Steve Wozniak was the one who made the design for the first ever Apple Computer which was later named as the Apple I in 1976. Steve Jobs was the person who convinced Wozniak to form a company together. To describe their partnership, at first Wozniak, a self-taught electronics engineer, and before working on the Apple I, built boxes which made him enabled him to make long-distance phone calls for free. The two were able to sell a lot of these so called boxes. The Apple I was generally designed for computer hobbyists. A local retailer ordered about a 50 pieces of the Apple I and it sold for $666. At first they were also made in the garage of Steve Jobs.
APPLE I
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Microsoft and Apple 2012 II. Driving Force (Gates, Jobs) & Competition between Gates & Jobs
It can be inferred that the competition between Apple and Microsoft is really because of the approaches of the two leaders of the companies. In the past, they had a good relationship, even making business transactions together, collaborating and appearing in interviews together. In the past, Bill Gates was the most important partner in software for Apple. Jobs even invited Gates for the preview of the Mac. Gates also praised Apple for being able to capture the imagination of people. However the way both companies were developed turned into a sort of competition. Nonetheless, Microsoft continued to make software for Apple such as Microsoft Windows Office for Mac. Microsoft came a year before Apple came out. At the start Apple even depended on Microsoft to develop their products. But in 1988 Apple sued Microsoft for copyright issues and for copying the look of their operating system. Also, the fact that Apple was almost dead a decade ago seems to have surpassed or equaled the success of Microsoft today. They both brought computers to the masses. Also, they are both very popular and are regarded as celebrities. Both of them were the first to create the first computers and the first to mass produce them.
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Skydrive is one of the best services that you get when you make a windows live account or a hotmail account. In Windows Skydrive, you are given 25 GB space online where you can store files such as pictures, word documents or videos. You can make folders and you can make them public or private. You can explore Skydrive here: http://explore.live.com/skydrive
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Microsoft Office is clearly one of the best software created by Windows because it is great for office, school or personal use. In mirosoft office, you get access, excel, power point, word, groove, infopath, outlook, and publisher. In Microsoft office you can practically write or create anything from papers to presentations to birthday cards. It is clearly the best hoe office currently in the market. It is also the most user friendly.
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Windows Movie Maker is great because it is user-friendly, and it has tools to import, edit, manage, and share your digital home videos. You can also edit High-Definition videos in it. It is best for someone who is new to video editing and it has built in features which you can easily use and add to your videos. Windows 7
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The newest version of iMac iMac wasnt expected by the consumers, and yet it was the computer that brought back the company of Apple. Ipod - iPad 2
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It is currently the best operating system created by Apple. The desktop is created similar to the iPod touch and iPad. It has multi-touch gestures, full screen apps, mission control, launch pad, resume, autosave, air drop, iCloud, and the Lion Server which can all be seen here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/whats-new/ Macbook Air
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The Macbook Air really lives up to the name of portable. And it literally made laptops portable. Macbook made it possible to carry on a lot of features in a thin laptop such as long battery life and a lot of programs and freatures. Iphone 4S
One of the most sought after mobile phones in the market. It has Siri. It also has the incredible 8 MP camera, has zoom and is a world phone. It is currently the most advanced smartphone by having the best software and the only mobile phone to have Siri.
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In 2008, Microsoft really planned on using its future work on learning and education. They want to explore education by looking at work through examining educators, learners and administrators. They plan to do this through creating, synthesizing, sharing, absorbing and managing information. They want software to become commercially available to solve problems in learning and to generate ideas and knowledge without the usual educational methods. (Rasmus, 2008) Today, Microsoft if still concentrating on education, but it has expanded on other aspects as well. It has expanded on the gaming business such as the Xbox360 and it want to bring the Xbox to Japan. Microsfot plans to expand in Japan with gaming and it also plans on exploring touch-based computing anywhere and everywhere. From touch-based computing they also plan on developing 3D graphics. Currently, Microsoft is trying to bring Xbox 360 to Japan and their sales are focused on the Kinect for the past year. Here is Microsofts latest video about its future plans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a6cNdhOKwi0
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Apple has been criticized for using chemicals on their products and for not properly recycling the past products that they have created. Now, Apple plans on addressing environmental issues such as removing the toxic chamicals such as lead in their products and recycling through the use of E-waste. They also plan on focusing on the energy efficiency of their products, even measuring the carbon footprint of their products starting this year. Apple plans on continuing to create electronic products with the environment in mind, hoping to be and environmental leader as well someday. With the passing away of Steve Jobs, Apple has future product plans. There has been a speculation the he left 4 years plan for the future of the Apple product and some of these products include the rumoured such as the Apple iTV, a Video Game Platform, Touch and 3D Data Input.
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Microsoft
The was a case filed by the European Union or the Microsoft in 1993. It also claimed that Microsoft was blocking its other competitors from the market through unacceptable methods. In 1994, Microsoft reached a settlement. But in 1998, Sun Microsystems filed another case about Microsoft not have enough disclosures regarding its products.
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Another court case similar to the EU case was labeled as the United States versus Microsoft. This was filed against Microsoft saying that Microsoft was abusing their power as a monopoly because every person or ever consumer who bought their computers automatically had Internet Explorer in it and it said that it was hard to download other browsers. It made them the winner among other browsers because it generally restricted the other consumers from downloading other browsers. This case happened in 1998. In 2001, Microsoft settled the case, allowing it to share its application programming interfaces with other companies.
Apple
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Currently, the latest social issue which reached a lot of media attention aside from the criticism about Apple not being environment friendly was when news about employee suicides came out. An employee who allegedly lost a prototype for an iPhone was interrogated and beaten up which is illegal under both the US law and Chinese law. This issue was investigated and later on employees had to sign contracts that they would not kill themselves.
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Both Microsoft and Apple have filed lawsuits against Samsungs Android OS, which dealt with copyright issues again.
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