Microsoft

A brief history

Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, originally to sell a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800. MS-DOS (1981) and the IBM PC partnership made Microsoft the default operating-system vendor of the personal-computer era, and Windows 3.0 (1990) and Windows 95 turned that position into a near-monopoly on desktop computing. The Xbox console arrived in 2001 and the Surface PC line in 2012, marking Microsoft's pivot from a pure software vendor into a hardware designer. Under Satya Nadella from 2014, Microsoft refocused around cloud (Azure), productivity (Microsoft 365), gaming (Xbox + Game Pass + Activision Blizzard, acquired in 2023), and AI partnerships (OpenAI investment from 2019 onward). Today the consumer-electronics arm covers Xbox Series X|S, the Surface laptop and tablet line, peripherals (mice, keyboards, headsets), and the Windows operating system itself.

What Microsoft is known for

Microsoft's defining product is Windows, but the hardware side has carved out two durable identities. Xbox built the modern subscription-gaming model with Game Pass (now Game Pass Ultimate), which bundles cloud streaming, day-one first-party releases, and EA Play access. The Xbox Series X is a direct technical peer of the PlayStation 5, with the architectural advantage of much broader backwards compatibility — original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One titles all run on the current generation, alongside enhancements like Auto HDR and FPS Boost for older games.

Surface positioned Microsoft as a reference Windows hardware designer. Surface Pro tablets, Surface Laptop ultraportables, and the Surface Studio anchor the line, with the 2024 generation pivoting hard to ARM via Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus silicon — the first Windows-on-ARM hardware to compete credibly with Apple Silicon on battery life. Surface Headphones, Surface Earbuds, and a long-running line of ergonomic mice and keyboards round out the accessories.

Where Microsoft excels on vsMars

Xbox Series X and Series S compete directly in our game consoles category and feature in best game consoles, where they consistently match or beat the PS5 on price-per-feature, backwards compatibility, and subscription value, while trailing on exclusives. Surface Laptop and Surface Pro entries appear in laptops and our best laptops shortlist, particularly for the Windows-on-ARM and convertible subcategories. Microsoft peripherals — the Sculpt Ergonomic and Surface Precision Mouse — are referenced in PC build and accessory guides rather than primary product pages.

Trade-offs to know

Xbox's main weakness is exclusives. First-party Microsoft Game Studios output has been thinner and less critically successful than Sony Interactive Entertainment's, and the Activision Blizzard acquisition is still working through release pipelines. Hardware-wise, the Xbox controller is excellent but lacks the haptic and adaptive-trigger sophistication of Sony's DualSense.

On the PC side, Windows-on-ARM compatibility has improved sharply with Prism translation but still has gaps for older 32-bit apps, anti-cheat-protected games, and specialized creative tools — buyers need to check application support before committing. Surface devices command Apple-tier pricing without Apple-tier repairability, and several generations have shipped with display, hinge, or battery-swelling issues that took multiple firmware cycles to address. Windows itself ships more aggressive advertising and account-linking pressure in the consumer SKUs each release. Finally, Microsoft's hardware lineup is officially sold in fewer markets than the brand's software reach implies, and warranty coverage outside the US, UK, and a handful of EU countries is thin.