Microsoft

Description

Microsoft's ambitions are anything but small. The world's #1 software company provides a variety of products and services, including its Windows operating systems and Office software suite. The company has expanded into markets such as video game consoles, interactive television, and Internet access. With its core markets maturing, Microsoft is targeting services for growth, looking to transform its software applications into Web-based services for enterprises and consumers. Microsoft has reached settlements to end a slew of antitrust investigations and lawsuits, including agreeing to uniformly license its operating systems and allowing manufacturers to include competing software with Windows.

Despite its name, Microsoft Limited has quite a bit of software to offer. The company, a regional subsidiary of Microsoft, provides a variety of applications for customers in the enterprise, consumer, government, and education sectors. Its software portfolio includes operating systems, server software, and office productivity products. The company also provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications, as well as software development tools. In addition to software, Microsoft sells video game consoles, computer peripherals, and Internet access services.

Sun Microsystem

Description

When it comes to network computing, it's hard to find an area where the Sun doesn't shine. Sun Microsystems is a leading maker of UNIX-based servers used to power corporate computer networks and Web sites. It also makes workstation computers and a widening range of disk- and tape-based storage systems. Unlike most hardware vendors, Sun makes computers that use its own chips (SPARC) and operating system (Solaris). Its software portfolio includes application server, office productivity, and network management applications. Sun also developed Java, a programming language for creating software that can run unchanged on multiple operating systems.

Sun soared during the the dot-com explosion in the 1990s with hardware optimized for serving Web sites, but the subsequent e-recession leveled the playing field for competitors. The company has responded by significantly growing its product and service lines through internal development and acquisitions -- a strategy that has notably moved it beyond proprietary technology and embraced the open-source movement.