Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows operating system powers billions of notebooks, desktop computers, and other devices across the world. Windows' success and Microsoft's other services have propelled the company's market capitalization to $2.76 trillion today, making it the second-largest company in the world by market capitalization.
Windows 2.0 was one of Microsoft's major releases – it was rolled out 36 years ago today, on Dec. 9, 1987.
Microsoft introduced the ability to resize and overlap windows. It also allowed for desktop icons, keyboard shortcuts, and introduced 16-color graphics, marking several firsts for an operating system that would one day dominate the computer world.
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Post the release of Windows 2.0, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sued Microsoft for the overlapping windows future, accusing the company of violating its copyrights.
However, Microsoft emerged victorious in the end.
Windows 2.0 is also the last operating system version that ran only on floppy disks.
Now, let's look at how Microsoft stock has fared since the company launched Windows 2.0 36 years ago.
Microsoft stock price from Dec. 9, 1987, till today
As you can see, Microsoft's share price, adjusted for rights shares, bonus shares, stock splits, and other corporate actions, was $0.321 on Dec. 9, 1987.
Microsoft's stock price today is $370.95, which is nearly 1,155 times the stock price 36 years ago.
Value of a $1,000 investment in Microsoft stock, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices, respectively, from Dec. 9, 1987, till today
If you had invested $1,000 in Microsoft stock on Dec. 9, 1987, today, you would have $1,154,956.
On the other hand, a similar investment in the Nasdaq index would be worth $47,483, and the S&P 500 worth $19,195.
A Future Powered By AI, Video Games, And More
Despite being early to the smartphone game than rivals Apple or Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, Microsoft ended up losing its advantage and bowing out of the smartphone industry.
However, under Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has made some important moves in the tech industry.
Its $13 billion investment in OpenAI could prove to be amongst one of the biggest blockbusters, with the future increasingly looking like it will have an element of artificial intelligence (AI) involved.
Microsoft has also made some big bets in other industries – its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has finally come through after intense scrutiny by antitrust authorities around the world.
This gives Microsoft access to some of the best talent in the video game industry, apart from giving its Xbox chief, Phil Spencer, some much-needed ammunition to counter Sony Group Corp.'s (NASDAQ:SONY) PlayStation.
微軟公司's（納斯達克股票代碼：MSFT）Windows 操作系統爲全球數十億檯筆記本電腦、臺式計算機和其他設備提供支持。Windows的成功和微軟的其他服務使該公司今天的市值達到2.76萬億美元，使其成爲市值第二大的公司。
Windows 2.0是微軟的主要版本之一——它於36年前的今天，即1987年12月9日推出。
微軟推出了調整窗口大小和重疊窗口的功能。它還允許使用桌面圖標、鍵盤快捷鍵，並引入了16色圖形，這爲有朝一日將在計算機世界佔據主導地位的操作系統開創了多個第一。
另見：邁克·諾沃格拉茨說，得益於ETF等，比特幣爲一個 “精彩故事” 做好了準備：“明年這個時候可能會創下新高”
在Windows 2.0發佈後，蘋果公司（納斯達克股票代碼：AAPL）以重疊的Windows未來爲由起訴微軟，指控該公司侵犯了其版權。
但是，微軟最終取得了勝利。
Windows 2.0 也是最後一個僅在軟盤上運行的操作系統版本。
現在，讓我們來看看自36年前微軟推出Windows 2.0以來的股票表現。
從1987年12月9日到今天的微軟股價
如你所見，經配股、紅股、股票拆分和其他公司行動調整後，微軟的股價在1987年12月9日爲0.321美元。
微軟今天的股價爲370.95美元，幾乎是36年前股價的1,155倍。
從1987年12月9日到今天，分別對微軟股票以及納斯達克指數和標準普爾500指數進行1,000美元投資的價值
如果你在1987年12月9日投資了1,000美元的微軟股票，那麼今天你將獲得1,154,956美元。
另一方面，對納斯達克指數的類似投資將價值47,483美元，標準普爾500指數的類似投資價值19,195美元。
由人工智能、視頻遊戲等驅動的未來
儘管在智能手機遊戲中比競爭對手蘋果或Alphabet Inc還爲時過早。”s（納斯達克股票代碼：GOOG）（納斯達克股票代碼：GOOGL）谷歌、微軟最終失去了優勢，退出了智能手機行業。
但是，在薩蒂亞·納德拉的領導下，微軟在科技行業採取了一些重要舉措。
它對OpenAI的130億美元投資可能被證明是最大的大片之一，未來它將越來越多地涉及人工智能（AI）的元素。
微軟還在其他行業下了一些大賭注——經過全球反壟斷機構的嚴格審查，其對動視暴雪的690億美元收購終於成功了。
這使微軟除了爲其Xbox首席執行官菲爾·斯賓塞提供了一些急需的彈藥來對抗索尼集團公司外，還可以獲得電子遊戲行業的一些最優秀人才。”s（納斯達克股票代碼：索尼）PlayStation。
