Founded on April 4, 1975 Microsoft has an undisputed dominance
over the computer industry for over a decade. With such a vast presence, much
has already been written about Microsoft’s history, products, even its former
CEO Bill Gates. For those itching to know even more, we have dug up 10 snippets
of info that you might not have heard before. What experimental musician
created the Windows start-up sound? How do they celebrate
anniversaries? Does Microsoft have a “pest” problem? Read the following to know
the answers and much more...
Microsoft holds over 10,000 patents and files (around 3,000
every year) ranking as one of the top five patent owners in the U.S. Although a
large majority of the patents relate to obscure elements of software, the
5,000th and 10,000th were consumer-friendly, easily-understandable ideas. The
5,000th was for tech in Xbox 360
games that lets people “watch” a video game remotely, while the 10,000th
was for the Microsoft Surface, linking real-life objects with data and images.
Microsoft also rewards
its staff members for securing a new patent. Besides a $1,500 bonus, they get a
wooden plaque and a decorative black “cube” that features their name, as well
as the title and date of the patent.
9. Microsoft Asks Strange Interview Questions
Microsoft has a reputation in the industry for asking
off-beat, off-the-wall questions during its job interview. The most oft-quoted
question is: “Why is a manhole cover round?” Whether this particular
example is genuine, or an urban legend, it’s certainly true that Microsoft
employs a very unusual, and forward-thinking interview process. It’s even
rumored that companies like Google have since emulated the style. Rather than plain “Where do you see yourself in five years”
type questions, Microsoft is more likely to ask you to solve a logic puzzle or
think through a problem like “Design a coffee maker that will be used by
astronauts.” Obviously, Microsoft isn’t planning to go into the coffee-in-space
industry anytime soon, but the process serves to find candidates that can think
creatively.
8. Microsoft Has a Huge Art Collection
No, we’re not talking about Clip Art. Microsoft is one of
the largest corporate collectors
of artworks with over 5,000 contemporary pieces including painting, sculpture,
works on paper, photographs, ceramics, studio glass, and multimedia works.
Microsoft gathers arts from
local artists, up-and-coming artists and big names such as Cindy Sherman, Chuck Close and
Takashi Murakami. A large proportion of the works are on display at more than
150 of Microsoft’s many campuses, as the company subscribes to the belief that
art in the workplace reduces stress, increases productivity and encourages
discussions and expression of opinions.
7. Microsoft’s Stock Has Split Nine Times
Microsoft has split its stock nines times since it went
public back in March 1986. Put very, very simply, a company will generally
split its stock when its share price becomes too high. Since Microsoft has had six 2-for-1 splits and three 3-for-1
splits, one original Microsoft share would now be equal to 288 shares today.
Interestingly the price of Microsoft’s stock at its initial public offering was
$21 a share, at the time of writing a share is now around the $23 mark. One
original MSFT share would now be worth over $6,000.
6. Microsoft Celebrates Anniversaries With M&Ms
All companies have their little in-house traditions, and
Microsoft is no exception. It seems it’s customary for Softies to celebrate
their yearly employment anniversaries with candy, and more specifically,
M&Ms. Each anniversary, a Microsoft employee is expected to
provide one pound of M&Ms for every year they’ve worked. That means if
Bill Gates observed the tradition, he should have turned up with 33 pounds of
M&Ms on June 27, 2008.
5. The Average “Softie”
The average Microsoft employee, or “Softie” as they call
themselves, is a 38-year-old male with the income for a developer coming in at
$106,000. Microsoft currently employs 88,180 people who work across
32,404,796 square feet of Microsoft’s premises, over 50,000 of which are
U.S.-based. The male to female ratio is very high among Microsoft’s American
employees with a staggering 76% male workforce.
4. Microsoft Uses Codenames
Ever since the company’s first operating system, Microsoft
has worked on its projects under codenames, of which Wikipedia has
a long list. Apparently Gates was ready to launch Windows under the name
“Interface Manager” before he was persuaded to change it by an employee. Past codenames include “Longhorn”, “Lone Star”, and “Vienna”. While you might
be tempted to add “Mojave”, to that list, it’s actually part of a Microsoft ad
campaign. The “Mojave Experiment” was a marketing exercise that battled Vista’s poor PR by presenting the software to new users
as a fresh product.
3. Microsoft’s Fave Food Is Pizza
Although not quite at Google’s level of snack-tastic,
free-for-all wonder, Microsoft does offer free drinks. Over 23 million gratis
beverages are downed on the corporate campus each year. Apparently the top
two drinks of choice for Microsoft staffers are milk and OJ. There’s also free
candy on the Microsoft campus shuttle. As far as food goes, Microsoft has around 35 cafeterias serving around 37,000 people each day. Pizza tops
the list of most popular meal.
2. Brian Eno Composed “The Microsoft Sound”
Pioneering musician Brian Eno was the musical brains behind
Window 95’s start up tune, dubbed “The Microsoft Sound.” The influential musician, who has worked with the likes of
David Bowie and U2, told the San Francisco Chronicle that making such a
short piece of music was “funny” and “amazing.” Eno likened the process to
“making a tiny little jewel.” Other musical trivia from the launch of Windows 95 is, of
course, the use of The Rolling Stones “Start Me Up” in the ad campaign, while a
related Eno fact is that he also composed the music for the computer game Spore.
1. “Micro-soft’s” First Ever Mention
The first ever mention of “Microsoft” was in a letter from
Bill Gates to co-founder Paul Allen in 1975. Gates initially wrote the company
name as Micro-soft, which made sense considering it’s
a portmanteau of “microcomputer” and “software.” Losing the hyphen, “Microsoft” was officially registered as
a company in November, 1976 in New
Mexico where Gates and Allen were working with their
first major customer, MITS. Microsoft didn’t move to its current campus in Redmond, Washington
until 1986. The Microsoft logo has changed several times over the years,
the current “Pac-Man” logo was introduced in 1987, but previous to that was the
“blibbet” logo that’s pictured above. The “blibbet” refers to the stylized “o”
and was apparently once the name of a burger served in the Microsoft company
cafeteria.
BONUS: The Microsoft Campus is Full of Bunnies!
Mashable’s Jolie O’Dell found a great factoid about the
Microsoft Corporate Campus, she gleaned while on a recent visit. “So, back in the mists
of time, some people dumped a bunch of rapidly reproducing pet bunnies -
leftovers from kids’ Easter gifts - on a grassy knoll near the MSFT campus,” Jolie said. “The bunnies started
doing what bunnies do best, that is, making more bunnies. At one point, there were so many that MSFT staff had to
start catching them and having them spayed and neutered! Nowadays, you’ll still
see lots of rabbits hopping around, though. Way cuter than Google’s goats.”
It seems the bunny proliferation has been a long term issue.
According to a 1998 Seattle Times article,
the “Redmond
rabbit problem” does not just affect Microsoft, but Nintendo,
Eddie Bauer and other companies in the area. The problem back then spawned the Redmond Rabbit Coalition
group (many members of which are now involved in the current day Evergreen
Rabbit Rescue) who campaign for a humane solution to the ongoing pest problem.
Source : http://www.gizmocrazed.com
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