The software business was dominated by hardware companies, and everybody thought they would just come in and wipe us out. People forget that Microsoft took a huge bet to think that an independent operating system and programming language would be successful.

[Microsoft executive Jeff Raikes remembers what the industry was like when he joined the company in 1981.] The software business was dominated by hardware companies, and everybody thought they would just come in and wipe us out, ... People forget that Microsoft took a huge bet to think that an independent operating system and programming language would be successful.

Until now, business intelligence software has been too complex, costly and disconnected from the software tools people use to do their everyday jobs.

Within a month, Ray was putting his thoughts on software-as-services on paper.

There are nearly 300 million PC users out there now, and so that gives us a very, very broad market. So we can put far more, you know, ten times more into R&D of the operating system, yet make it available for one-tenth or less the price.

When families save, they can get through emergencies like a bad harvest or a medical emergency. But it's more than that. They can also plan for the future, gradually saving up for a small business or for their children's school tuition.