The software that is used in computers are developed by software companies from around the world. There are many types of software companies. Some companies like Microsoft create operating systems. Other companies like Sun create programming software, and many other companies create various other application software which are used by the end users. Then there are companies who develop tailor made software for the unique specifications of a customer.

Arguably the largest and most powerful software company in the world is the Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft is dedicated towards creating and developing operating systems. The CEO of the company Bill Gats is one of the most powerful men in the software industry. Microsoft started off with MS-DOS, which stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System. This was one of the earliest user friendly operating systems that was created. There was nothing fancy about the system, as the user had to type in commands to get any type of work done. The first GUI or Graphical User Interface came with Windows 95 which was launched in the year 1995. This operating system was the first step towards creating today's operating systems.

In the year 1998, Microsoft came up with Windows 98 and in the year 2000 they launched Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium. The significance of these operating systems was that they were multi user, multi tasking systems. This implied that several users could use the systems simultaneously and do different work at the same time. Shortly after came Windows NT and ME. In the year 2002 Microsoft created arguably the best operating system to be created, Windows XP (where XP stands for Extreme Programming). In the year 2007 Microsoft developed and released Windows VISTA. This operating system has the highest GUI yet to be created.

Microsoft also develops application software, of which the most important is Microsoft Office. This package of software has the capability to do word processing, database management, account management, create presentations and so many other important applications.

Other software companies like Sun develops software like java. Java is a programming language used to program computer software, phone software, develop web applications and so on. There are software companies like ID-software, IDOS, EA-GAMES, Groove Games who are dedicated toward developing games for computers.

There are also software companies who develop personal software for businesses and organizations. These types of software are not for the public usage. They are private software which are used to operate the systems within an organization. These software are created by analyzing and understanding the needs of the specific customer. A normal user cannot buy these software from stores. One very important fact is that after implementation the software company maintains these types of software. Any type of error, bug or glitch is tracked down by the maintenance crew and is fixed upon the request of the customer. If the software needs to be expanded according to the growth of the organization, then the relevant requirements will be analyzed, developed and implemented by the software company.

Summery: This article describes various software companies, their specialties and the type of software they develop, with a special highlight on Microsoft Corporation.