Microsoft Celebrates its Birthday Dominating Personal Computer Market

Founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates on April 4, 1975, Microsoft has grown to become one of the largest company in the world creating three billionaires (including the richest man on the planet) and over 12,000 millionaires from its employees.

While it’s certainly dominating the operating system market with its Windows, Microsoft is also quite keen on diversifying from the core business purchasing among a string of other business the famous creator of VoIP service – Skype Technologies in 2011, and Finnish mobile phone producer Nokia in 2013.

Microsoft also makes a long list of software for desktop and servers, has its very own video game console – Xbox, and has finally entered the personal computer production in 2012 with the line of Microsoft Surface tablet computers.

It wasn’t until that Nokia partnership when smartphones based on Windows Phone platform started to win hearts and minds of consumers. While it’s certainly an alternative to Android and iOS, it still has a long way to go to become a real threat to the two competitors.

Microsoft Surface tablets have first seen the light of day on June 18, 2012, while the most recent ones Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book have been launched on October 26, 2015. The Microsoft tablets are far from being as popular as iPads, but they certainly excel at productivity and features, being able to solve far more complex tasks and often being compared to personal computers. There are three types of them: hybrid tablets, 2-in-1 detachables, and interactive whiteboards.

All of the tablets come with a sliding out kickstand whereas you have to buy a third-party accessory to prop up the majority of competition, and an optional detachable magnetic keyboard, which also acts as a protective screen cover. By the time Surface 3 was released, all new Microsoft tablets were running on Intel chips and were compatible and shipped with Windows 10 pre-installed.

The Surface Book became the company’s first device marketed as a laptop. With its one-of-a-kind teardrop design and “dynamic fulcrum” hinge allow users to detach and reattach the top screen part to the bottom keyboard. While it may look like a laptop, for all intents and purposes the Surface Book is essentially a tablet device.

Microsoft Surface family is slowly, but surely becoming quite popular with tablet enthusiasts looking for more productivity than an iPad or an Android can provide, or simply not wishing to switch from the familiar world of Windows operating system. Many well-known case makers are producing a long list of accessories to make their life safer and easier. Check out the selection of cases for your device here.