微软公司于1975年由现任主席兼执政总裁比尔·盖茨（WilliamHGates）和保罗·艾伦（PaulGAlien）合伙组成。20多年来，公司迅速成长，1996年营运额达86．7亿美元。公司最初成立时只有三名成员，他们志同道合，怀着共同的目标：“希望让每个家庭、每个案头都拥有一台个人电脑。 Microsoft was formed in 1975 by incumbent chairman and ruling president William Gates and Paul Gallen. For more than 20 years, the company has grown rapidly with a total turnover of 8.67 billion U.S. dollars in 1996. When the company first came into existence, it had only three members. They were like-minded and shared a common goal: "I hope every family and every desk has a personal computer.