20 years of Microsoft in Search

Microsoft isn't the first name you think of when it comes to the internet, but there presence is ubiquitous. 

Take these five examples:

1. Bing.com, the rival to Google, was developed by Microsoft (launched in 2009)
2. Yahoo! Search is powered by Microsoft
3. Internet Explorer, the world' second most popular browser after Safari, is designed by Microsoft. 
4. Nokia, the Finnish phone maker, is owned by Microsoft. 
5. Microsoft's founded Bill Gates has led the introduction of internet into Africa, often overshadowed by the significant health advances made by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Humble Origins in the Web
However, it hasn't always been so entrenched in the world wide web. When the internet first came to prominence in households, Netscape Navigator, an American startup run out of a garage, released the first mainstream website browser. Microsoft promptly developed their version, Internet Explorer, and proceeded to bundle it in to the Windows operating system. This led to a a near-decade of anti-trust litigation after Microsoft acquired complete dominance in the web browser market. Eventually the cases were settled in and out of court, with the arrival of Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari gaining traction.  

Future Directions
Microsoft continues to work on Bing, offer tie-ins with other search engines and media companies. In 2015, the company still dominated operating systems, word publishing, spreadsheet inventory and was looking to 
make further advances in its virtual reality research.