Windows 7 Product Analysis

U03A2 - Product Analysis – Tom Baker

Microsoft Company Overview:

Bill Gates and his childhood friend, Paul Allen, founded Microsoft in 1975 ("Bill gates chairman," 2011). Led by a credence that computers would be indispensable enough to reside in every home and place of business, the company began creating programs for additional personal computer brands. By 1978, Microsoft achieved over 1 million dollars in revenue ("bbc.com," 2008).

In 1980, Microsoft secured an agreement with IBM to provide an operating system for the then to be released IBM PC. A significant point within the contract agreement allowed Microsoft to maintain ownership of the operating system (MS-DOS) and license it to other computer makers ("bbc.com," 2008). While maintaining and upgrading MS-DOS through the years, the company began to develop a graphical interface after Bill Gates was inspired by the work of Apple Computer on the Macintosh and Xerox’s Alto computer. On November 20th, 1985, Microsoft released Windows 1.0.

Currently, Microsoft is the largest software development company in the world, based on revenues and employs 92,000 people, as of 2011. The company’s product lines span computer software, online services, video game systems, and music players. Some of the entities bought or merged into Microsoft are Skype, Yammer, Connectix, Visio Corporation, Firefly, and Perceptive Pixel. Microsoft also has ownership stakes in the following companies: Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Corel Corporation, USA Networks, Apple Computer, and Toyota Media Service Corporation.

Windows 7 Professional

Microsoft released Windows 7 Professional for the public on October 22, 2009. The release occurred less than three years after the previous version, Windows Vista, became available. Microsoft released two different compilations of the operation system, 32-bit and 64-bit. The 32-bit version only allowed memory access up to 4 gigabytes, while the 64-bit version allowed access above 4 gigabytes and...