While it may never have the cool cred of Apple, Microsoft nevertheless remains one of the most powerful and ubiquitous brands in the world of tech. 

With that in mind, here's a deeper look into the company Bill Gates built.

History lesson

Microsoft was founded in 1975 by childhood pals Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

The name of the company was coined by combing the words microprocessor and software.

Global domain

Around the world it's estimated there are over 1.5 billion PC users.  Of these one third use Microsoft's Windows XP operating system.

To date Microsoft has sold over 200 million Windows 8 licenses. And in case your still not impressed: at last count there were over 9.2 million Office 365 Home and Personal subscribers.

Bug fixer

The company is committed to keeping its software as bug-free as possible.

For the Windows 8.1 update Microsoft paid out US$128,000 in bug bounties.

Online dominance

Microsoft is no slouch when it comes to the web. Internet Explorer still accounts for 58.9% of total browser usage.

Big business

Unlike many lean tech companies, Microsoft remains a behemoth with close to 100,000 employees worldwide.

And in Q4 2014 Microsoft posted US$24.52 billion in revenue.