Microsoft

Microsoft is a major tech corporation based in Redmond, Washington. They are responsible for creating the Windows operating system,  Microsoft Edge, and the  Microsoft Office suite.

Beginnings
In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in the Albquqerque area. They first demonstrated some MITS that were developed at Washington State University, not longe after Microsoft's headquarters were moved to Bellevue, Washington. Their next venture would be Xenix a homemade fork of Unix. But MS-DOS was the piece of software that took the company places. With DOS being especially popular on IBM computers to rival Apple's Macintosh computers at the time.

Early Windows
On November 20th, 1985 Microsoft released a graphical shell for MS-DOS called  Windows 1.0, despite Microsoft also working on IBM's OS/2 project. Microsoft also moved its headquarters to Redmond, Washington at this point in time. A couple of years later, Microsoft released the first version of their widely successful Microsoft Office suite, which at first bundled  Microsoft Word and  Microsoft Excel.

Windows 95 and Windows XP
Around the mid 90s, Microsoft started shifting their business to be centered around the brand new (at the time) and growing World Wide Web, with one of the first ever web browsers in Internet Explorer being bundled with Microsoft's first big hit operating system;  Windows 95. Which introduced the world to the iconic taskbar and start menu. In the beginning of the 21st century, Bill Gates handed over the CEO position to Steve Ballmer, this seemed to coincide with Microsoft's development of a new version of Windows based on Windows NT, which was still codenamed "Whistler" at this time. On October 25th, 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP into the world and it was arguably the most iconic Windows release of them all with the famous Bliss wallpaper set as the default background. Windows XP would go on to have a long lifespan and legacy even after Microsoft ended support for XP in April of 2014.

Windows Vista and 7
Shortly after Windows XP's release in 2001, Microsoft began working on a successor codenamed " Longhorn". Windows Longhorn would end up being one of the longest and most tumultuous development cycles of any Windows version to date, with the whole project being bloated by around 2005. Microsoft was forced to start over and use Windows Server 2003 as a base, this eventually became  Windows Vista and  Vista's launch was not how Microsoft could've envisioned it, as most computers in the late 2000s were still only optimized for  XP and either barely or couldn't utilize  Vista's new features. Not too long after, Microsoft would release  Windows 7 which was given much more positive reception, with most consumers describing it as "a refined Vista". Even after Microsoft ended all support for Windows 7 in early 2020, it continues to be used by significant chunks of people across the globe. Around this same time, however Microsoft began experimenting with touchscreen smartphones which were becoming very popular thanks to Apple's iPhone being released in 2007, in 2010, Microsoft released Windows Phone 7, which had a very different UI from its desktop counterpart and eventually sparked a transition into Microsoft's next era.

Windows 8 and 8.1
On October 26th, 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 to the public which received immediate controversy mostly due to the removal of the start button and menu and the whole UI being optimized for Microsoft's new line of touchscreen tablets; the Surface. Of course this upset desktop users, as most stayed on Windows XP or  Windows 7 or just used start menu replacements for  Windows 8. A year later, Microsoft released Windows 8.1 which brought back the start button and some more improvements for desktop users, but the tablet UI was still intact, this was still not enough to sway most people to upgrade to  Windows 8.1

Windows 10 and 11
In 2014, Steve Ballmer stepped down from his CEO position at Microsoft and Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft. A year later in 2015, Microsoft released Windows 10, which was once thought to be "last version of Windows", as  Windows 10 would receive bi-yearly updates adding to the operating system. Windows 10 featured the return of the start menu (which would also have the metro tiles on the right side). Microsoft also launched a successor to Internet Explorer, known as  Microsoft Edge which received lukewarm reception at first and was slowly abandoned by Microsoft until they began work on a  new version of Edge that would use  Chromium as a base. Windows 10 would become another slam dunk for Microsoft with it still being the most widely used version of Windows today. After Microsoft released their revamped Edge browser they would begin work on  Windows 10's successor which was originally going to be  Windows 10X, but it turned into  Windows 11, which would be released to the public on October 5th, 2021. Windows 11 would have a brand new visual style codenamed "Fluent" a new start panel where users can launch programs from a grid of icons another big change was the centering of the taskbar and icons, which is similar to how Mac OS and  Chrome OS function.

How to Draw

 * Step 1: Draw a square
 * Step 2: Draw 2 white lines that go horizontal and vertical
 * Step 3: Color the top left square red, the top right square green, the bottom left square blue, and the bottom right square yellow
 * Step 4: You're done!

Microsoft Edge

 * [[File:Edge.png]] Microsoft Edge - My new Chromium based son, Hopefully we can finally compete with Chrome this time.
 * [[File:Edgelegacy.png]] Microsoft Edge Legacy - My son who couldn't keep up with the competition and people kept confusing for my older browser son.
 * [[File:Edge-beta.png]] Microsoft Edge Beta - The beta channel for my son, Edge
 * [[File:Edge-dev.png]] Microsoft Edge Dev - The developer channel for my son, Edge
 * [[File:Edge-can.png]] Microsoft Edge Canary - The unstable channel for my son, Edge

Internet Explorer

 * [[File:IE1.png]] Internet Explorer 1 - My first ever browser son, you introduced the world to the Internet.
 * [[File:IE1.png]] Internet Explorer 2 - A minor improvement from my first browser son
 * [[File:IE3.png]] Internet Explorer 3 - My third browser son and first ever to be shaped like an E.
 * [[File:IE3.png]] Internet Explorer 4 - My fourth browser son
 * [[File:IE3.png]] Internet Explorer 5 - My fifth browser son and last version of IE to be available for Mac OS and Unix.
 * [[File:IE6.png]] Internet Explorer 6 - My sixth browser son and once king of the browsers
 * [[File:IE7.png]] Internet Explorer 7 - My seventh browser son and first to have tabbed browsing
 * [[File:IE7.png]] Internet Explorer 8 - My eighth browser son and not the most well-received one
 * [[File:IE9.png]] Internet Explorer 9 - My ninth browser son that came with an updated rendering engine
 * [[File:IE11.png]] Internet Explorer 10 - My tenth browser son that came in two flavors (desktop and metro)
 * [[File:IE11.png]] Internet Explorer 11 - My eleventh browser son that I'm still keeping around for a couple more years.

Websites

 * [[File:Bing.png]] Bing - My search engine son that people keep searching Google on.
 * [[File:Bing.png]] Bing Maps - My cartography-obsessed son
 * [[File:Msn.png]] MSN - My son that keeps me updated on the latest news.

Windows

 * [[File:Win1.png]] Windows 1.0 - My first operating system son that was a shell for MS-DOS
 * [[File:Win1.png]] Windows 2.0 - My second son in the Windows line that had some minor improvements
 * [[File:Windows3.png]] Windows 3.0 - My third son that came with a new Program Manager interface
 * [[File:Win3.png]] Windows 3.1 - A minor update to my third son
 * [[File:Win3.png]] Windows NT 3.1 - My first son to be based on Windows NT instead of MS-DOS
 * [[File:Win3.png]] Windows Chicago - This eventually became my next son in Windows 95
 * [[File:Win95.png]] Windows 95 - My first son to have the iconic Start Menu packaged in
 * [[File:Win95.png]] Windows NT 4.0 - An updated to previous NT son
 * [[File:Win95.png]] Windows Memphis - This eventually became my next son in Windows 98
 * [[File:Win95.png]] Windows 98 - A major update to my previous son in 95 with it support for more than 16 colors
 * [[File:Win95.png]] Windows 2000 - My rock-solid son made for businesses and enterprise users
 * [[File:Win95.png]] Windows ME - My buggy and retarded son,couldnt keep up with users at the time.
 * [[File:WinWhistler.png]] Windows Whistler- This eventually became my next son in Windows XP
 * [[File:Winxp.png]] Windows XP - Arguably my most popular son of all as it ran on the majority of computers from 2001 to 2012.
 * [[File:Winlonghorn.png]] Windows Longhorn - My ambitious but aborted son that never made it
 * [[File:WinVista.png]] Windows Vista - My son that was too much to handle for some computers at the time
 * [[File:Win7.png]] Windows 7 - A refinement on my previous son's ambitions and overall a favorite for consumers.
 * [[File:Win8.png]] Windows 8 - My son that had an alienating UI for most people
 * [[File:Win8.png]] Windows 8.1 - A refinement on my previous son's issues such as bringing back the start button.
 * [[File:Win10.png]] Windows 10 - Currently my most popular son running on more than half of the world's computers.
 * [[File:Win10x.png]] Windows 10X - My failed OS son that was designed with foldable devices in mind
 * [[File:Win11.png]] Windows 11 - My newest son that brings a new start layout and is compatible with Linux/Android apps.

Windows Server

 * [[File:Winxp.png]] Windows Server 2003 - Thanks for helping me create Windows Vista
 * [[File:WinVista.png]] Windows Server 2008 - My second server son.
 * [[File:Winserv.png]] Windows Server 2012 - My third server son with the same weird UI as Windows 8/8.1.
 * [[File:Winserv.png]] Windows Server 2016 - My fourth server son.
 * [[File:Winserv.png]] Windows Server 2019 - My fifth server son.
 * [[file:Winserv.png]] Windows Server 2022 - My sixth server son.

Windows Mobile

 * [[File:Win95.png]] Pocket PC 2000 - My first ever mobile son designed for Pocket PCs
 * [[File:Winxp.png]] Pocket PC 2002 - My second mobile son based on XP
 * [[File:Winxp.png]] Windows Mobile 2003 - My first son to jump onto smartphones
 * [[File:Winxp.png]] Windows Mobile 5 - My fourth mobile son
 * [[File:WinVista.png]] Windows Mobile 6 - My fifth mobile son and last to be on keypad smartphones
 * [[File:Winp7.png]] Windows Phone 7 - My sixth mobile son and first designed for touchscreen smartphones
 * [[File:Winp8.png]] Windows Phone 8 - My seventh mobile son
 * [[File:Winp8.1.png]] Windows Phone 8.1 - My eighth mobile son
 * [[File:Win10.png]] Windows 10 Mobile - My ninth and last mobile son made for smartphones.

Other Windows Editions

 * [[File:Win.png]] Windows CE - My embedded son for small computers
 * [[File:Win.png]] Windows Embedded - My embedded son
 * [[File:Win.png]] Windows Embedded Industry - My point of service son
 * [[File:Win.png]] Windows Embedded Automotive - My automotive son

Software

 * [[File:MSpaint.png]] MS Paint - My artist son
 * [[File:Notepad.png]] Notepad - My writer son who can only write basic letters and code in C
 * [[File:Word.png]] MS Word - My more professional writer son
 * [[File:Excel.png]] MS Excel - My graphing son
 * [[File:Ppoint.png]] MS PowerPoint - My presentative son

Frenemies

 * Apple - I may have bailed you out back in the late 90s, but we are still rivals since the 80s.

Enemies

 * [[File:Google.png]] Google - My new number one rival with them taking over the browser and search engine industry.
 * [[File:Amazon.png]] Amazon - I'm keeping an eye on you, you're not as bad as Google over here. But you're still a threat.

Further Information

 * Microsoft
 * Microsoft (Wikipedia)
 * Microsoft Windows
 * Microsoft Office
 * Bing