This Day In Market History: Microsoft Introduces Windows Operating System

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened? On Nov. 10, 1983, Microsoft Corporation MSFT unveiled its Windows operating system.

Where The Market Was: The Dow finished the day at 1,235.87. The S&P 500 traded at 164.41.

What Else Was Going On In The World? In 1983, the U.S. invaded Grenada after the government was overthrown by a Cuban trained military force. U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative. The U.S. fed funds interest rate was 11%.

Windows Debuts: Microsoft Windows is a basic part of the computing world today, but at the time it was unveiled by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in New York in 1983, Windows was described as “the most elaborate product introduction ever witnessed.”

Windows initially launched for $99. Features included notepad, calendar, clock, cardfile, terminal application, file manager, Windows Write, Windows Paint and a game of Reversi. It took the average computer at the time about 15 seconds to transition from one program to another.

Unfortunately for computer geeks at the time, the final rollout of Windows would be delayed until 1985. By 1987, Microsoft had surpassed Lotus to become the world’s largest software company. Today, Microsoft is the world’s most valuable public company of any kind and has a market cap of more than $2.5 trillion.

Public investors didn’t get a chance to get in on Microsoft until the company’s IPO in March 1986. IPO investors who put $1,000 into Microsoft at the time would now be holding a stake worth more than $3.7 million.