Microsoft Research on Flickr's photostream  

In 1991, Microsoft Corp. became one of the first software companies to create it's own computer science research organization. Microsoft Research has developed into a unique entity among corporate research labs, balancing an open academic model with an effective process for transferring it's research to product development teams. Today the world-renowned scientists of Microsoft Research make up one of the largest, fastest-growing and most highly respected software research organizations in the world — one that will help define and redefine the computing experience for millions of people for decades to come.