To cope with the potential for an increase in demand for products and services, Microsoft opened a number of "holiday stores" across the U.S. to complement the increasing number of "bricks-and-mortar" Microsoft Stores that opened in 2012. The Surface was unveiled in June 2012, becoming the first computer in the company's history to have its hardware made by Microsoft. Following the release of Windows Phone, Microsoft undertook a gradual rebranding of its product range throughout 2011 and 2012, with the corporation's logos, products, services, and websites adopting the principles and concepts of the Metro design language. Other companies like Borland, WordPerfect, Novell, IBM and Lotus, being much slower to adapt to the new situation, would give Microsoft market dominance. With a few exceptions of new κωστασ companies, like Netscape, Microsoft was the only major and established company that acted fast enough to be a part of the World Wide Web practically from the start.

Microsoft is one of only two U.S.-based companies that have a prime credit rating of AAA. The outage was traced back to a flawed update of CrowdStrike's cybersecurity software, which resulted in Microsoft systems crashing and causing disruptions across various sectors. In the same month, Microsoft acquired Australia-based video editing software company Clipchamp. The increased necessity for remote work and distance education drove demand for cloud computing and grew the company's gaming sales. The public cloud computing platform provides access to quantum software and quantum hardware including trapped ion, neutral atom, and superconducting systems.

In April 2016, the company sued the U.S. government, argued that secrecy orders were preventing the company from disclosing warrants to customers in violation of the company's and customers' rights. Microsoft provides information about reported bugs in its software to intelligence agencies of the United States government, prior to the public release of the fix. In May 2025, Microsoft announced that it is laying off more than 6,000 employees, around three percent of the company's entire workforce.

2014: Windows 8/8.1, Xbox One, Outlook.com, and Surface devices

On October 7, Microsoft acquired Ally.io, a software service that measures companies' progress against OKRs, planning to incorporate it into its Viva family of employee experience products. In October 2021, Microsoft announced that it began rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) support for Microsoft Teams calls in order to secure business communication while using video conferencing software. During the summer of 2015 the company lost $7.6 billion related to its mobile-phone business, firing 7,800 employees. It has been criticized for monopolistic practices, and the company's software received criticism for problems with ease of use, robustness, and security.

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In August 2018, Microsoft implemented a policy for all companies providing subcontractors to require 12 weeks of paid parental leave to each employee. The Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, a report of how progressive the organization deems company policies towards LGBT employees, rated Microsoft as 87% from 2002 to 2004 and as 100% from 2005 to 2010 after it allowed gender expression. Bill Gates claims the cap on H1B visas makes it difficult to hire employees for the company, stating "I'd certainly get rid of the H1B cap" in 2005. Microsoft is an outspoken opponent of the cap on H-1B visas, which allows companies in the U.S. to employ certain foreign workers.

Meanwhile, that month, the company announced a subscription offering of artificial intelligence for small businesses via Copilot Pro. However, the plan was short-lived, as Altman was subsequently reinstated as OpenAI's CEO and Brockman rejoined the company amid pressure from OpenAI's employees and investors on its board. The service includes Copilot, a GPT-4 based large language model tool to query and visualize data, write code, initiate simulations, and educate researchers. In January 2023, CEO Satya Nadella announced Microsoft would lay off 10,000 employees. Microsoft also named Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox brand since 2014, the inaugural CEO of the newly established Microsoft Gaming division, which now houses the Xbox operations team and the three publishers in the company's portfolio (Xbox Game Studios, ZeniMax Media, Activision Blizzard).

• The UK's Information Commissioner's Office monitored the situation and noted the adjustments, which included enhanced security measures like encryption and biometric access.
• The company's retail locations are part of a greater strategy to help build a connection with its consumers.
• Among grant recipients from the Asia-Pacific region are the Sri Lankan IT company Fortude, the Thailand-based Vulcan Coalition, and the Indonesian organization Kerjabilitas.
• On July 19, a global IT outage impacted Microsoft services, affecting businesses, airlines, and financial institutions worldwide.

Microsoft has been dominant in the IBM PC–compatible operating system and office software suite markets since the 1990s. A Big Tech company, Microsoft is the largest software company by revenue, one of the most valuable public companies, and one of the most valuable brands globally. The company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windows and has since expanded into areas such as Internet services, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, video gaming, and more. Get must-have apps to enhance your gaming experience with Twitch, Nitrado, Air Server, and Dolby Atmos.