The most interesting facts about Microsoft - Bill Gates' company is one of the giants of the tech world and has been for more than 20 years. Find out more about this company and the man behind it all.

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Founding - The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975.

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Name - The company was originally called Micro-soft but the hyphen was removed in 1981.

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Patents - It is estimated that Microsoft files applications for about 3,000 patents every year and owns more than 10,000.

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Operating system - The original name for Windows 1.0 was Interface Manager. The company's marketing team convinced Gates and Allen to change to the more appealing Windows name.

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Right decisions - Bill Gates rejected a deal to acquire SEGA as he felt the games company couldn't compete with Sony. He was right.

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First virus - The first virus made for the Windows operating system was WinVer 1.4. It hit systems in 1992. Currently there are over 60,000 viruses that can attack a Windows system.

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Licences - The company doesn't sell software. Instead, it sells renewable licences to use software. This system was developed by Bill Gates in 1976 and has been adopted by numerous other companies.

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Machine of the Year - In 1983, Time magazine broke their tradition of choosing their Person of the Year and chose the computer as Machine of the Year. This helped Bill Gates and Microsoft achieve worldwide recognition.

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Missed opportunity - In 2006, Microsoft had the chance to buy YouTube for $500 million. The deal didn't go ahead and today the site belongs to Google. It is the world's most popular video-sharing platform.

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Recognition - In 1992, President George Bush presented Bill Gates with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

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Sound - The iconic sound you heard when you turned on Windows 95 cost Microsoft $35,000, which was paid to musician Brian Eno.

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Music - Windows 95 had quite a musical connection. The official song of the operating system was 'Start Me Up' by the Rolling Stones and the system's "super-deluxe" CD came with the video for 'Buddy Holly' by the band Weezer.

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Public company - Microsoft became a public company 11 years after it was founded.

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Art - Microsoft believe that art reduces stress and increases productivity in employees. Pieces of art can be found throughout the company's global offices.

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Office - Microsoft Office is one of the most-used pieces of software in the world. It was originally launched for Apple's Macintosh in 1989, before being launched by Windows.

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Hardware - The company moved into the hardware market in 1983 with the introduction of the MS Mouse 1.0.

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MS-DOS - This operating system was called Quirky and Dirty Operating System and was bought by Microsoft in 1981 for $25 million. They re-named it MS-DOS and it became the preferred operating system at IBM.

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Salary - The base salary for a Microsoft software engineer is $105,000.

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Genius - Bill Gates' IQ is approximately 160. A person with an IQ of over 140 is considered a genius.

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Current CEO - The CEO of Microsoft is Satya Nadella. He was chosen for Bill Gates' former position on 4 February 2014.

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Names - Microsoft considered names like Oxygen and Windows O2 for the operating system that was launched as Microsoft XP.

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First site - Microsoft only launched its first website in 1993, when it required an online forum for customer support.

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Legal battles - Microsoft is constantly involved in legal battles, mostly due to their monopolizing business practices that illegally block competition.

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First receipts - In its first year of activity Microsoft made just $16,000. Four years later it had reached a profit of $1 million per year.

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Windows Vista - This was one of the company's most controversial operating systems. So controversial that Jim Allchin, a former Microsoft executive resigned the day it was released to the public. He felt that Windows Vista would backfire.

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2009 - It was only in 2009, 23 years after its foundation, that Microsoft reported a quarterly drop in its annual profits.

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Celebration - Microsoft has a tradition of celebrating big achievements and events with copious amounts of M&M's.

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Salvation - In 1997, Microsoft saved Apple from almost certain bankruptcy with a $150 million investment in the company.

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Console - In 2001, Microsoft released its first Xbox console. The name is a nickname for DirectX Box. DirectX is the software developed by Microsoft that allows computers to process video game graphics.

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Drinks - In 2010, Microsoft said that their employees allegedly drink around 23 million free drinks throughout the year at their cafeterias. Orange juice and milk are the most popular.

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