Brand of the day: Microsoft Windows
Welcome to Brand of the Day, where we pick the brand making headlines and explain what you need to know about why it's in the news.
Microsoft Windows is our brand of the day.
The operating system's long-anticipated Windows 10 software debuted globally earlier. Chief executive Satya Nadella said that the launch was "a huge milestone" for the company, marks a "new era" for personal computing.
The new system, which is available as a free upgrade for current Windows users in 190 countries, was first revealed in September. The platform is more mobile-friendly than previous incarnations and has been tailored to work across a wider variety of devices.
Due to the popularity of tablets and smartphones PC sales have been declining at an average rate of 10 per cent for the past few years, but some commentators think that Windows 10 could change the dial.
Microsoft first launched its flagship software in 1985. It started life as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response a growing interest in graphical user interfaces.
Following the release of Windows 3.0 in 1993 it came to dominate the global personal computer market with over 90 per cent market share. Research indicates that there are around 1.36 billion active users today.
In total, there have been 27 client versions of the software.
The brand famous start-up chime, dubbed 'The Microsoft Sound', was composed by Roxy Music star Brian Eno.
The musician likened the process to "making a tiny little jewel", and admitted that he actually composed the melody on a Mac.
In 2010 Windows released a series of smartphones and announced a partnership with Nokia the following year.
Earlier this month the firm revealed that it was writing off its $7.2bn deal with the Finnish phone manufacturer, and said that it would be cutting 7,800 jobs in this area of its business.
In an internal company email, Nadella said: "We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family."
Today's update has received favourable reviews so far.
The company has given a major presence to its digital assistant Cortana, and replaced default browser Internet Explorer with the all-new Edge, signaling its commitment to break from tradition.