| Sumario: | In just over a decade, Microsoft has become the biggest software company in the world. Chairman and cofounder Bill Gates has turned it into the IBM of the 1990s. Now, it has to avoid falling as IBM did. It must not only stay ahead of its current rivals but predict where the market is going and direct efforts into new realms. The Redmond, Wash.-based company already dominates the personal computer operating systems market with its MS-DOS and Windows software, and next week it will launch Windows NT, designed to link networks of PCs. It is also challenging for leadership in the applications software market and has entered the information business, offering multimedia CD-ROMs. Gates is entering into joint ventures with an eye toward making Windows the standard operating system of the interactive, multimedia gadgets of the future, but in this area he will face strong competitors, including lively newcomers and powerful companies from outside the industry.
|
|---|