Valued at $261bn (�163bn) on the New York stock exchange on Monday, Microsoft has finally beaten its number one rival, General Electric, in market value.

Owner, Bill Gates, the world's richest man, still owns 20% of the company, worth an estimated $56bn.

From rags to riches

Mr Gates launched the company with his best friend Paul Allen, in the inauspicious surroundings of an Albuquerque hotel room.

The chips are up for the software giant

In the past year, shares in Microsoft have jumped 50%, despite the US government's anti-trust trial against the company, which is due to begin on October 15.

The government's Justice Department and 20 states have compiled a 90-page document citing allegations of monopolistic practices against the software giant.

The latest news of its dominance could be seen as providing fuel for the US government's case.

Fred Dickson, director of research at Branch, Cabell & Co, a Virginia-based retail brokerage, said: "It just builds on their case - if there is a case - that Microsoft is the dominant technology company in the world."

In the dock

The Justice Department accuses Microsoft of trying to kill in its infancy the Java language developed by Sun Microsystems, seeing it as a threat to its Windows operating system.

It also argues that Microsoft has been unfairly using its advantage of having more than 90% of the world's PCs running Windows, to squeeze rival browser Netscape out and dominate access to the World Wide Web.

Wall Street analysts said Microsoft's success was the result of the company's rapid growth, which has also been seen in other technology companies.