After enduring several years dogged by hardware failures, unloved operating systems, and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for its products, Microsoft appears to be on the cusp of greatness once again. Mainly thanks to Windows 10, which is soon to be unleashed onto the world.

However, before we can look forward to a lighter, brighter future for Microsoft under Satya Nadella, we should take a look back over the company's 40 year history. Microsoft has released hundreds of products in that time, and we want to discover what ones stand out for you.

Microsoft Microcosm

We want to know, What Is Your Favorite Microsoft Product Of All Time?

This is a very simple question that everybody reading this should be able to answer. Most of you will have used a Microsoft product at some point in your lives, even if doing so eventually led you to reject Redmond's advances and have a fling with Apple, Google, or Linux instead.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to select one Microsoft product as your favorite. This product can be anything produced by Microsoft over the last 40 years, as long as it truly is the one that has stuck in your mind as the best thing Microsoft has ever made.

The most obvious contenders are the multiple operating systems Microsoft has released. Perhaps your heart still belongs to MS-DOS? Or could it be that Windows XP remains your favorite flavor of Windows? You could, if you really wanted to, choose Windows 10 based purely on the previews.

Moving away from Windows, there is Office, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player. There is also the three Xbox consoles released so far, including the current-generation Xbox One. And Kinect, Outlook, Bing, and the Microsoft Surface. And even poor old Windows Phone. I'm sure you get the idea by now.

Whatever your favorite Microsoft product of all time is, we want to hear all about it. What made you choose that product over all of the others available? Why do you love it so much? And what has led to you retaining that enthusiasm for a product that may be many decades old?

We Need You!

Please let us know all about your favorite Microsoft products below. All comments will be read and most will be replied to. Depending on the level of interest, the responses may be turned into a full article at a later date. We Ask You is a column dedicated to crowdsourcing the wisdom of MakeUseOf readers.