As part of its strategy to broaden its business, Microsoft released Microsoft Encarta on March 22, 1993, the first encyclopedia designed to run on a computer. Microsoft also released Windows for Workgroups 3.11, a new version of the consumer line of Windows, and Windows NT 3.1, a server-based operating system with a similar user interface to consumer versions of the operating system, but with an entirely different kernel. In November, Microsoft released the first version of their popular database software Microsoft Access. Eventually, Microsoft Office became the dominant business suite, with a market share far exceeding that of its competitors. Novell, an owner of WordPerfect for a time, alleged that Microsoft used its inside knowledge of the DOS and Windows kernels and of undocumented Application Programming Interface features to make Office perform better than its competitors.

• The release included an updated version of the Windows 2000 kernel, enhanced DOS emulation abilities, and many of the home-user features found in previous consumer versions.
• It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.
• On September 15, 2014, Microsoft acquired the video game development company Mojang, best known for its wildly popular flagship game Minecraft, for $2.5 billion (~$3.25 billion in 2024).
• In 2002, Microsoft launched the .NET initiative, along with new versions of some of its development products, such as Microsoft Visual Studio.
• Microsoft Works, an integrated office program which combined features typically found in a word processor, spreadsheet, database and other office applications, saw its first release as an application for the Apple Macintosh towards the end of 1986.
• On November 10, 2020, Microsoft released the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S video game consoles.
• On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new version of the company’s flagship operating system which featured a completely new user interface, including a novel start button; more than a million copies were sold in the first four days after its release.

2007: Foray into the Web, Windows 95, Windows XP, and Xbox

A developer preview was released on September 13, and was replaced by a consumer preview on February 29, 2012. Following the release of Windows Phone, Microsoft underwent a gradual rebranding of its product range throughout 2011 and 2012—the corporation's logos, products, services and websites adopted the principles and concepts of the Metro design language. On May 10, 2011, the company acquired Skype Technologies for US$8.5 billion (~$11.7 billion in 2024). On April 12, 2010, Microsoft launched their Kin phone line, a result of their acquisition of Danger Incorporated in 2008. On June 26, 2009, Microsoft started taking pre-orders at a discounted price for Windows 7 which was launched on October 22, 2009. During the show, Ballmer announced the first public Beta Test of Windows 7 for partners and developers on January 8, but also for the general public two days later.

present: Acquisitions, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows 11

• The next update to the consumer line, Windows ME (or Windows Millennium Edition), was released on September 14, 2000.
• On January 21, 2015, Microsoft announced the release of their first Interactive whiteboard, Microsoft Surface Hub (part of the Surface family).
• To cope with the potential for an increase in demand for products and services, Microsoft opened a number of “holiday stores” across the U.S. to complement the increasing number of “bricks-and-mortar” Microsoft Stores that opened in 2012.
• On July 31, 2012, Microsoft launched the Outlook.com webmail service beta to compete with Gmail.
• Microsoft will launch a preview of Intune for Education “in the coming weeks”, with general availability scheduled for spring 2017, priced at $30 (~$38.00 in 2024) per device, or through volume licensing agreements.
• It grew to become the most popular version of Unix, measured by the number of machines running it (note that Unix is a multi-user operating system, allowing simultaneous access to a machine by several users).
• Windows CE 2.0, the handheld version of Windows, was released this year, including a host of bug fixes and new features designed to make it more appealing to corporate customers.

It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. When Microsoft launched several versions of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, they had captured over 90% market share of the world's personal computers. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. “That they workers are empowered to have that information—the ideas about what’s happening and unfurling in the market—is so important, so that when they go back to the bargaining table, their everyday jobs, and the ways that they touch our everyday lives, they’re going to be informed,” said Danzico.

One place for your AI and productivity tools

Windows CE 2.0, the handheld version of Windows, was released this year, including a host of bug fixes and new features designed to make it more appealing to corporate customers. In 1997, Internet Explorer 4.0 was released, marking the beginning of the takeover of the browser market from rival Netscape, and by agreement with Apple, Internet Explorer was bundled with the Apple Macintosh operating system as well as with Windows. The company also released the Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, which had built-in support for internet applications. Microsoft also released the Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick in an attempt to further expand its profile in the computer hardware market. On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new version of the company's flagship operating system which featured a completely new user interface, including a novel start button; more than a million copies were sold in the first four days after its release. The company released Microsoft Bob, a graphical user interface designed for novice computer users, in March 1995.

2014: Windows 8, Xbox One, Outlook.com, and Surface devices

On July 19, 2024, 8.5 million Windows computers around the world suffered lopebet crashes and were unable to restart, resulting from a faulty update that American cybersecurity company CrowdStrike released for its Falcon Sensor security software. Meanwhile, that month, the company announced a subscription offering of artificial intelligence for small businesses via Copilot Pro. Microsoft also announced a new multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment deal with OpenAI.

The game’s family-friendly design, scalable performance and strong security features make it ideal for all ages and devices, ensuring engaging gameplay and creative kingdom building for every player. The app closely mirrors the web experience while providing unique Windows-only productivity enhancements, including IT policy controls and a privacy-first approach for business users. Within hours, CrowdStrike released a patch for the faulty update that prevented future crashes, but affected computers had to be fixed manually, so problems persisted for some time.
While Microsoft largely failed to participate in the rise of the Internet in the early 1990s, some of the key technologies in which the company had invested to enter the Internet market started to pay off by the mid-90s. Microsoft entered the personal digital assistant (PDA) market in November with Windows CE 1.0, a new built-from-scratch version of their flagship operating system, designed to run on low-memory, low-performance machines, such as handhelds and other small computers. In an attempt to extend its reach in the consumer market, the company acquired WebTV, which enabled consumers to access the Web from their televisions.

The new version of Microsoft's operating system boasted new features such as streamlined graphic user interface GUI and improved protected mode ability for the Intel 386 processor; it sold over 100,000 copies in two weeks. Microsoft Works, an integrated office program which combined features typically found in a word processor, spreadsheet, database and other office applications, saw its first release as an application for the Apple Macintosh towards the end of 1986. By then the company was the world's largest producer of software for personal computers—ahead of former leader Lotus—and published the three most-popular Macintosh business applications. (Earlier magazine on-disk distributions included Robert Uiterwyk's BASIC in the May 1977 issue of Information Age.) However, Xenix was never sold to end users directly although it was licensed to many software OEMs for resale. The first operating system publicly released by the company was a variant of Unix announced on August 25, 1980.
On July 22, 2020, Microsoft announced plans to close its Mixer service, planning to move existing partners to Facebook Gaming. On February 20, 2019, Microsoft Corp said it will offer its cyber security service AccountGuard to 12 new markets in Europe including Germany, France and Spain, to close security gaps and protect customers in political space from hacking. December also saw the company rebuilding Microsoft Edge as a Chromium-based browser; it was publicly released on January 15, 2020. On June 8, 2017, Microsoft acquired Hexadite, an Israeli security firm, for $100 million (~$125 million in 2024).