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Microsoft: The Company It wouldn’t be fair to talk about the Windows Operating System without first looking at the origins of the company that developed it. William H. Gates III and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. They were both only 19 years old. In 1980 International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) chose Microsoft to write the operating system for the IBM PC personal computer, to be introduced the following year. As part of its contract with IBM, Microsoft was permitted to license the operating system to other companies. By 1984 Microsoft had licensed MS-DOS to 200 personal computer manufacturers, making MS-DOS the standard operating system for personal computers. In 1985 Microsoft released Windows, an operating system that extended the features of MS-DOS and employed a graphical user interface. In 1990 Microsoft became the first personal-computer software company to record $1 billion in annual sales. As Microsoft’s dominance grew in the market for personal-computer operating systems, the company was accused of monopolistic business practices. Windows Windows is a personal computer operating system sold by Microsoft Corporation that allows users to enter commands with a point-and-click device, such as a mouse, inst