| |
|
| |
|
|
July: Intel formed by Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, & Andy Grove # # |
June: US Patent 3,387,286 awarded to Dr. Robert Dennard, of IBM Research Center, for Dynamic RAM #
Dec.: Douglas Engelbart drives the "Mother of All Demos", demonstrating the wooden mouse (see movie), cutting & pasting (see movie), hypertext, dynamic file linking, & shared-screen collaboration # |
|
|
|
June: FCC compels AT&T to allow customers to connect non-Western Electric equipment to the telephone network #
Hot Wheels introduced # |
Apr.: AT&T's Bell Telephone Labs withdraws from the Multics project #
Aug.: Unix created at AT&T's Bell Telephone Labs for DEC PDP-7 by Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie; Thompson's wife vacations to California for a month, & he spends 1 week each on kernel, shell, editor (ed, "most user-hostile editor ever created"), & assembler # #
December 28: Linus Torvalds born in Helsinki, Finland # |
|
|
May: Advanced Micro Dynamics (AMD) founded # |
|
|
Jan.: BBN begins creating the ARPAnet, forerunner of the Internet #
Dec.: 4 nodes on ARPAnet (UCLA, SRI, UCSB, & U. of Utah) # |
|
Jan.: US Justice Dept. files antitrust suit against IBM #
Aug.: Humans walk on the moon #
Woodstock
1st successful open-heart transplant surgery |
| |
|
|
|
Intel creates 1103 chip, 1st available DRAM chip #
DEC begins shipping the PDP-11 (250,000 sell over its lifetime) # |
|
|
Nutting Associates releases Computer Space, 1st commercial coin-op (25¢) video game; only 1500 machines are made # |
June: Xerox opens Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) #
Nerf balls introduced # |
Nov.: Unix version 1 written in B; 10,000 lines of code & 60+ commands #
Nov.: UNIX Programmer's Manual written by Thompson & Ritchie #
While a freshman at Harvard, Richard Stallman (RMS) begins working at MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab # |
|
|
Jan.: Intel correctly manufacturers 1st microprocessor, the 4004 (4-bit, 108 KHz, 60k operations/sec., 2300 transistors) # |
IBM intro's 8" floppy disk, but read-only # |
Pascal programming language invented # |
15 nodes on the ARPAnet
Email invented by Ray Tomlinson |
|
10 pound Phonemate Model 400 introduced for $300; could save 20 30-second messages on reel-to-reel tape, & could listen using headphones # |
| June: 10 Unix installations in world (all at AT&T in New Jersey) # |
|
Bill Gates & Paul Allen form their 1st company, Traf-O-Data, which records automobile traffic flow using Intel 8008 # |
Apr.: Intel 8008 (200 KHz, 8-bit, 16 kb memory access, 3500 transistors) # |
5.25" floppy disks appear |
C programming language created at AT&T Labs by Dennis Ritchie & Brian Kernighan # #
Gary Kildall writes PL/M, 1st programming language for Intel processor # |
|
Sept.: Magnavox releases Odyssey 100 home video game system, connecting to TVs, for $100; comes with tennis, hockey, roulette & 9 other games #
Syzygy founded & renamed Atari; & ships Pong (November), the 1st successful commercial video game (10,000 sold) # |
Texas Instruments introduces its 1st line of electronic calculators
Hewlett-Packard releases HP-35, 1st scientific hand-held calculator #
Hamilton Watch Co. introduces the Pulsar, 1st LED digital wristwatch, in gold ($2100) & steel ($275); only displays time when button pushed! #
7"x4" Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera, 1st to auto-eject finished image, without having to peel off wrapper & wait # |
Jan.: Unix version 3 introduces pipes #
Feb.: 16 Unix installations in world #
Aug.: UNIX kernel rewritten by Ritchie in C, making it portable #
Oct.: 1st Unix paper delivered by Ritchie & Thompson at IBM's Symposium on Operating System Principles # |
|
|
|
IBM intro's readable & writable 8" floppy disk, storing 400 kb #
IBM intro's 3340 hard disk, using 4 8-inch platters, stores 70 MB #
Nov.: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center creates the Alto, which uses mouse, GUI, Ethernet #
IBM develops the hard disk |
Gary Kildall writes CP/M (Control Program/Monitor) OS using PL/M # |
May: Ethernet invented by Bob Metcalfe # |
|
|
Jan.: Unix installed at Berkeley on a PDP-11/45 #
May: ~20 UNIX users meet in New York #
July: Ritchie & Thompson's paper on UNIX appears in Communications of the ACM, vastly publicizing the OS # |
|
|
Apr.: Intel 8080 (2 MHz, 8-bit, 64 kb memory access, 6000 transistors) # |
Sept.: Ed Roberts borrows $35k though he's $300k in debt, & develops the MITS Altair kit computer # |
Sept.: Bravo, 1st WYSIWYG word processor, developed for Xerox Alto #
Gary Kildall writes CP/M (Control Program/Monitor), 1st operating system for microcomputers, & founds Intergalactic Digital Research, later just Digital Research # |
40 nodes on ARPAnet #
Bob Kahn & Vint Cerf publish 1st paper describing TCP/IP # |
Atari releases Gran Trak arcade video game, 1st car-racing game controlled by steering wheel #
Atari hires 40th employee: Steve Jobs #
Sept.: 100,000 coin-op video games in US # |
Dungeons & Dragons introduced # |
May: RFC 681, "Network UNIX", appears; Unix now part of the ARPAnet #
May: Unix V6 released; under 10k lines of code! # |
June: Steve Wozniak types a character on a keyboard & sees it appear on a TV screen, the 1st time in history this has happened # |
Jan.: In 8 weeks, Gates & Allen develop BASIC for Altair 8800, 1st language for PCs #
Apr.: Micro-Soft founded #
July: Micro-Soft licenses BASIC to MITS # |
|
Jan.: Popular Electronics features MITS Altair 8800 on cover # #
Apr.: Ed Roberts sells the MITS Altair 8800 assemble-it-yourself kit for $397 (1 kb RAM), coining "Personal Computer"; within 1 month, 250 orders per day # #
Apr.: At 4th meeting of Homebrew Computer Club, Steve Dompier plays "Fool on the Hill" using Altair & radio #
IBM tries to enter "small machine" market with 5100 (50 lb. "portable", $9k-$20k), but it fails # |
|
60 nodes on ARPAnet # |
Dec.: $250 million in video game systems sold for year # |
Mar.: 1st meeting of what will become Homebrew Computer Club, with Wozniak there #
July: Arrow Head Computer Company opens in Los Angeles, selling Altairs, boards, peripherals, & magazines: 1st independent US computer store #
Sept.: BYTE magazine, issue 1 #
Sony Betamax, 1st stand-alone VCR |
Sept.: Unix licensed by 138 organizations #
Bill Joy creates vi & Richard Stallman creates Emacs #
Original BSD Daemon logo (the "beastie") created # |
Mar.: Steve Wozniak finishes the Apple I (1 MHz MOStek 6502 CPU, 4 kb RAM, BASIC on ROM) # #
Apr.: Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs found Apple Computer & start putting together the Apple I in Jobs' family garage # #
Apr: Ron Wayne sells his 10% stake in Apple for $800 #
Steve Wozniak proposes HP create a PC but it's rejected; Steve Jobs proposes Atari create a PC but it's rejected #
July: Apple I kit sold for $666.66 # |
Feb.: Gates publishes his "Open Letter to Hobbyists" excoriating the sharing of programs #
Nov.: Micro-Soft changed to Microsoft #
Dec.: Gates drops out of Harvard # |
July: Zilog Z-80 (1 billion made, & still going!) released by Frederico Faggin #
AMD & Intel sign patent cross-license agreement # |
8" floppy drive available for $1200
5.25" floppy drive available for $390 |
Dec.: Electric Pencil, 1st popular word-processing program for microcomputers # |
63 nodes on ARPAnet # |
Atari releases Breakout coin-op video game (15,000 sold over lifetime) #
Warner Communications buys Atari for $28 million #
Fairchild Camera and Instrument's Channel F home video game system, 1st one to use plug-in cartridges, with color & sound; $150 for system & $20 per cartridge #
3 million video games sold # |
Jan.: 1st issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics and Orthodontia #
Mar.: 1st Annual World Altair Computer Convention, in Albuquerque #
Sept.: Computer Shack, later ComputerLand, incorporated # |
Mar.: John Lions' book on UNIX, Code and Commentary, available #
BSD Unix created at U. of California - Berkeley |
Apr.: Apple ][, the 1st PC with plastic case, color graphics, keyboard, & display, released for $1300: 4kb RAM, 1 MHz CPU, keyboard, sound, game paddles, BASIC in ROM # # |
|
|
June: Commodore PET released for $600 (6502 CPU, 4 kb RAM, keyboard, display, cassette tape drive) #
Aug.: Radio Shack TRS-80 released for $399 (4 kb RAM, keyboard, B&W screen, tape cassette) #
Dec.: 48,000 PCs shipped in 1977 # |
|
|
Atari 2600 home video system introduced, with plug-in cartridges, color graphics, sound, & joysticks ($190) # # |
Apr.: 12,750 attend 1st Annual West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco #
June: Camp Retupmoc, 1st week-long computer camp, in Terre Haute, IN # |
Mar.: Bill Joy begins producing BSD, sending out 30 copies of BSD1 & 75 copies of BSD2 #
1st non-DEC Unix port to Interdata 832 #
2nd BSD, including Pascal, vi, mail, more, csh, ex # |
5.25" floppy drive available for $495
1st DOS for Apple (v. 3.1) released (no relation to MS-DOS) |
Dec.: Sales reach $1 million # |
Intel 8086 (16-bit, 29k transistors, 1 MB memory access, 5MHz) |
DEC VAX (Virtual Address eXtension), a 32-bit machine, goes on sale #
Altair production ends
Epson dot matrix printer announced |
Sept: MicroPro's WordStar word processor released, for CP/M systems |
|
Oct.: Space Invaders video arcade game; 350,000 sold over lifetime #
Magnavox's Odyssey2 cartridge-based video game system #
Dec.: $50 million spent to buy coin-op video arcade games, with Atari getting 70% of that #
Milton Bradley's Simon debuts, asking players to remember a sequence of colors & sounds # |
Rubik's Cube (~4.3 x 1019, or 43 quintillion, possible configurations, but only 1 solution!) introduced #
Texas Instruments Speak & Spell ($50) speech synthesizer helps children learn to spell 200+ common words #
Magnavox Magnavision Model 8000 DiscoVision Videodisc Player, 1st laserdisc player ($750); discs played 25 minutes of a movie on each side # |
Jan.: Unix version 7 released, "the 1st portable Unix"; manual is now 400 pgs, with 2 400-page supplements (with Bourne shell, awk, sed, tar, touch make, uucp, find, cpio, unlimited users ... & kernel is just 40 kb!) # #
June: AT&T announces new license for Unix V7: more expensive, & academic license ($20k) no longer permits automatic classroom use #
Dec.: BSD3 appears #
Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) founded to create Unix ports # |
Jobs & other Apple employees see demo of Xerox Alto's GUI (which impresses them mightily) & Object-Oriented Programming & networking (which they don't "get") |
Move Albuquerque HQ to Bellevue, WA |
Motorola 68000 released (16-bit, 68k transistors) # |
|
VisiCalc, 1st spreadsheet program, released; sales eventually rise to 12k/mo. by 1981 |
USENET invented
CompuServe offers MicroNET (bulletin boards, databases, & games) |
Atari's Asteroids video arcade game (100,000 sold over lifetime) #
$930,000 spent by users on coin-op video arcade games #
$400 million of video game systems & cartridges sold # |
July: Sony introduces the Walkman TPS-L2 (originally called the Soundabout, Stowaway, & Freestyle) & world's 1st lightweight headphones ($200); 186 million cassette-based Walkmans are sold over its lifetime # #
Strawberry Shortcake dolls introduced # |
| |
|
Oct.: BSD4 released (job control, sendmail) # |
Apple III introduced for $4500-$8000 (2 MHz CPU, 128 kb RAM, built-in 5.25" floppy) & fails - in 4 years, only 65,000 are sold
Dec: Apple IPO (APPL); Woz sells shares to employees (2000 for $5) # |
Aug.: Xenix, a version of Unix built mostly by SCO, announced # #
Steve Ballmer joins
Asked by IBM to develop BASIC for upcoming IBM PC
Convinces IBM it has an operating system IBM can license; after IBM agrees, buys QDOS from SCP for $100k |
RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) coined by Prof. David Patterson of U of C - Berkeley # |
Jan.: Z8000 ONYX, 1st Unix workstation, demoed (8 serial ports [users], $25k) #
1st 5.25" hard drive from Seagate |
Seattle Computer Products (SCP) creates QDOS (Quick & Dirty Operating System) for their machines |
300 bps modem avail. for $195 (invented in 1962) #
1200 bps modem avail.
Jan.: Ellis & Truscott announce Netnews design (later Usenet) # |
Mattel releases Intellivision home video game system for $300 #
Oct.: Midway releases Pac-Man arcade video game; within 1 year, 100,000 machines sold & $1 billion in quarters spent #
Nov.: Atari's 1st National Space Invaders Competition; Bill Heineman wins with 165,200 #
Nov.: Atari releases Battle Zone video arcade game #
Mattel ships 200,000 Intellivision units #
$500 million in video games systems & cartridges sold in US #
$500 million worth of coin-op arcade video games sold in US; $3.8 billion in quarters spent # |
|
June: BSD 4.1 released #
Oct.: AT&T released Unix System III (commercial V7), 1st version of Unix provided without source code # |
|
|
Intel 8088 (4.7 MHz)
AT&T Bell Labs' BELLMAC-32A, world's 1st single-chip 32-bit microprocessor |
Aug.: IBM PC released (4.7 MHz Intel 8088, 16 kb RAM [expandable to 256 kb], DOS 1.0) for $1565, legitimizing the PC & beginning the WinTel (Windows-Intel) monopoly # #
Adam Osborne introduces Osborne I, the 1st portable, for $1795 (64kb RAM, 4 MHz Zilog Z-80A CPU, CP/M OS, modem, 2 5.25" floppy drives, 5" display -- and 24 pounds!) & inaugurates software bundling with hardware (WordStar, SuperCalc, & BASIC) # |
Xerox 8010 STAR introduced for $16,595, with a Desktop, clickable icons for documents and folders, windows with scrollbars, contextual menus, & visual interfaces for options |
200 nodes on Internet # |
July: Atari releases Asteroids for home video games #
PacMan fever
Steve Juraszek plays arcade game Defender for 16 1/2 hours on 25¢, scoring 15,963,100 #
Video arcade games introduced: Nintendo's Donkey Kong, introducing Mario; Midway's Ms. Pac-Man; Sega's Frogger; Namco's Galaga; Atari's Centipede & Tempest, the 1st color vector graphics game #
US Army modifies Atari's Battle Zone to enable crews to practice against Soviet tanks #
Video arcades takes in over $5 billion as 4.5 million arcade machines are sold #
$1 billion in sales of home video game systems & cartridges; 9% of US homes have video game system; 80% are Atari # |
Aug.: MTV debuts # |
Feb.: SUN founded by Scott McNealy, Bill Joy, Andreas Bechtolsheim, & Vinod Khosla; SunOS based on BSD 4.1c # #
Apr.: BSD 4.1a adds TCP/IP & sockets # # |
Apple is 1st personal computer company to reach $1 billion in annual sales
1st computer virus to escape into the wild, Elk Cloner, runs through Apple ][ systems # # |
|
Intel 80286 (16-bit, 134k transistors, 16 MB memory) # |
Commodore 64, best selling computer of all time (22 million sold), released for $600 (64kb RAM, 16-color graphics, & 1st with integrated sound)
Compaq founded & introduces 1st IBM clone for $3000 (4.7 MHz 8088, 128 kb RAM) |
Adobe founded |
Aug.: 235 nodes on Internet #
Sept.: 1st smiley used :-) #
TCP/IP declared standard for DOD |
Atari 5200 video game system, for $269 #
Atari releases E.T. the Extraterrestrial game for 2600 after only a 5-week development timespan; a terrible game, it fails # # |
Sept.: Steve Wozniak's 1st US Festival, 1st time Diamond Vision displays used at US concert (3 days, 20 bands, 34 hours of music, 400,000 in attendance, 105°F weather, 36 arrests, 12 drug overdoses, $12.5 million lost) # #
US Dept. of Justice throws out antitrust lawsuit against IBM
Compact Disc announced
Trivial Pursuit introduced # |
Jan.: AT&T announces UNIX System V, the 1st supported release #
Sept.: Richard Stallman announces GNU Project to create a free operating system #
45,000 UNIX installations in world |
Apple Lisa, with the 1st PC GUI (but with a document-centric approach), a full suite of bundled programs (LisaWrite, LisaCalc, LisaList, LisaProject, LisaDraw, LisaPaint, & LisaTerminal), & first Apple mouse, released for $10,000 & fails (1 MB RAM, 5 MB hard drive)
Apple ][ the 1st company to sell 1 million units #
PCs outsell Macs for the 1st time # |
Word introduced: $375
1st Microsoft mouse: $200
Begins developing OS/2 with IBM
Nov.: Announces Windows 1.0 will be out in early 1984 # |
|
4.25 lb. Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, 1st popular laptop, with internal 300 bits per second modem ($799) # |
Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet program, inspires people to buy the IBM PC
C++ designed
WordPerfect 3.0 ships for $500 |
Aug.: 562 nodes on Internet # |
Cinematronics' Dragon's Lair arcade game, 1st laserdisc-based coin-op game; 50¢ per play # |
May.: Steve Wozniak's 2nd US Festival (3 days, 34 bands, 670,000 in attendance, $7-8 million lost) # #
Dec.: Michael Jackson's Thriller video appears on MTV a>
PC named 1982 Machine of the Year by TIME
Motorola introduces 1st commercial cell phone, the DynaTAC 8000X (1 foot+ long, 28 oz's., 30 min's. talk time, 30 number storage), for $3995 #
Sony CDP-101, world's first consumer CD player, released for $900 #
Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears, & My Little Pony introduced #; |
Jan.: Richard Stallman resigns from MIT AI Lab, but he is still allowed to have office & lab space there #
Sept.: Richard Stallman (RMS) begins work on GNU Emacs #
SUN introduces NFS (Network File System) for network file sharing
Vendors unite to form X/Open consortium to sponsor standards & "Open Systems" #
U. of California - Berkeley releases version 4.2 of BSD, with TCP/IP & more
100,000 UNIX installations in world, incl. 750 universities # |
The "1984" ad runs once, during the Super Bowl, introducing the Macintosh
The original Macintosh, with its simple GUI (System 1, with intuitive icons & useful fonts on a 400 KB, 3.5" disk), & bundled software (MacWrite, MacPaint), released for $2500 (8 MHz, 32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU, 128 kb RAM, built-in 9" B&W screen at 512x342, 3.5" floppy, mouse) #
100,000 Macs sell in 6 months
2,000,000th Apple II sold
AppleWorks released: word processing, database, & spreadsheet |
MS-DOS 3.1 released
Demos Windows to IBM for 3rd time, but IBM is not interested |
June: Motorola 68020 (32-bit) # |
Hewlett-Packard ships LaserJet, 1st laser printer, for $3600
Michael Dell begins selling custom-built PCs from his college dorm room #
IBM announces monitors with 640x350 resolution |
|
Oct.: 1024 nodes on Internet #
DNS introduced
2400 bps modems avail. for $900 |
|
AT&T monopoly broken up
William Gibson's Neuromancer intros term "cyberspace"
Transformers introduced # |
HP's Unix, HP-UX 1.0, released # |
Feb: Steve Wozniak ends his full-time employment at Apple to create world's first universal remote control #
May: Steve Jobs forced out of Apple #
Sept.: Steve Jobs founds NeXT # #
Nov.: Apple's Unix, A/UX, announced #
Macintosh Plus for $2600 (1 MB RAM, support for hard drives, improved GUI) |
Excel released - for Mac
Mar.: MS-DOS 3.1 released #
Nov.: Windows 1.0 ships for $100 (~$177 in 2005 money) & sells poorly because there are no programs for it & it's too intensive for common hardware; includes MS-DOS file manager, calendar, clock, notepad, & calculator in a tile interface # # #
Dec.: Windows 1.0.1 ships two weeks after Windows 1.0, fixing several bugs #
Gates turns 30, & Microsoft has 910 employees & $140 M in revenue # |
Oct.: Intel 80386 (32-bit, 275k transistors, 4 GB memory access) # |
July: Commodore unveils Amiga 1000 for $1300 (Motorola 68000 processor, 256 kb RAM, multitasking & windowing OS) #
IBM has 40% market share for PCs #
Gateway Computer founded # |
PageMaker for Mac, 1st page layout software, released |
Quantum Computer Services founded (see October 1991)
symbolics.com is 1st commercial domain name
FCC allows certain bands of wireless spectrum - at 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, & 5.8 GHz - to be used without a government license |
Nintendo Entertainment System released in US, along with Super Mario Bros., the best-selling game of all time (40.24 million) # |
Mar.: "We Are The World" released; raises $63+M #
Peak of Cabbage Patch Kids craze: $600 million sold # |
Jan.: SUN goes public #
250,000 UNIX installations in world |
Lisa discontinued after rapidly-declining sales
Jan.: System 3.0 ships # |
Jan.: (c)Brain, 1st virus for IBM-compatible PCs, written by Pakistani brothers & spreads around world #
Mar.: MSFT (1100 employees, $200 million in revenue) goes public at $21/share & Gates (who owns 43% of company) is world's youngest billionaire at 30 # |
Motorola's 68040 (32-bit, 25 MHz) |
Compaq releases 1st IBM-compatible PC #
Dec.: 30 million PCs in US # |
Larry Walls starts developing Perl # |
Feb.: 2308 nodes on Internet # |
|
Jan: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster |
Nov.: NeXTStep released #
750,000 UNIX installations in world
Unix fragments into competing open systems
Andrew Tanenbaum releases Minix, a micro-kernel Unix clone with source code for teaching, in Operating Systems: Design and Implementation # # |
HyperCard, a graphical hypermedia database tool, released with System 6, introducing the pointing-finger cursor (discontinu
in 2004) # |
Dec.: Windows 2.0 released, with icons, overlapping windows, & hot-key shortcuts # # #
Dec.: Millionth copy of Windows sold #
Buys Forethought, makers of PowerPoint for Mac
Transfers ownership of Xenix to SCO for 25% of the company # |
|
|
Feb.: GNU C compiler (gcc) starts circulating; 110,000 lines of code # #
Apr.: IBM releases OS/2 1.0, a "modern" operating system with improved graphics # |
Mar.: UUNET, 1st commercial ISP providing email & Usenet access, founded; 50 customers by June #
Dec.: 28,174 nodes on Internet #
9600 bps modem avail. for $995 |
|
Oct.: Stock market crash, when Dow-Jones drops 22.6% & lost $500 million, largest decline since the Depression #
Koosh Ball & Pictionary introduced # |
Jan.: IBM's Unix, AIX 1.0, released #
RMS writes the GNU (later General) Public License, or GPL
POSIX 1 published
May: 7 co's, incl. IBM, DEC, & HP, form Open Software Foundation to create UNIX standard # # |
Oct.: NeXT releases the NeXTcube for $6500 (25 MHz 68030, 8 MB RAM, 17" monitor, NeXTstep OS) #
A/UX 1.0 released # |
Buggy MS-DOS 4.0 released #
Bill Gates on the NeXT: "Develop for it? I'll piss on it." # |
|
Hewlett-Packard introduces the DeskJet Inkjet printer for $1000
Compaq's 1st laptop with VGA graphics for $5800 (12 MHz 286, 640kb RAM, 20-40 MB hard drive, 10" grayscale VGA screen)
Dec.: 45 million PCs in US # |
June: Digital Research released DR-DOS # |
Feb.: IEEE creates the 802.11 committee to set up a standard for wireless networking
Nov.: Morris Worm, 1st to spread using Internet, infects DEC VAX machines all over the world (~1/10 of 60,000 machines connected to Net), leading to creation of CERT # |
Tetris introduced |
Aug.: Yo! MTV Raps premieres # |
Feb.: GNU General Public License 1.0 #
1.2 million UNIX installations in world, & 4-5 million Unix users #
UNIX System V Release 4 ships, unifying System V, BSD, & Xenix
Cygnus Solutions, 1st business created around open source, formed # |
Sept.: Mac Portable (16 MHz 68000 CPU, 1 MB RAM [up to 9 MB], 9.8" 640x400 B&W active matrix screen, 5-10 hr lead-acid battery, side trackball, 16 lbs) for $6,500 ($7,300 with 40 MB hard drive) # |
Microsoft endorses Windows for low-end PCs & OS/2 for high-end PCs
Word for Windows ships # |
Apr.: Intel 80486 (1.2 million transistors, level 1 cache) #
|
Dec.: 50 million PCs in US # |
|
World Wide Web invented by Tim Berners-Lee
100,000 computers on Internet |
Nintendo's hand-held Game Boy, with 2.5 inch monochrome screen #
Sega Genesis for $189 (Motorola 68000 processor, 512 colors) # |
Super Soaker introduced #
Nov.: Berlin Wall falls |
| |
|
July: AT&T's Bell Labs announces Plan 9, an "improved" successor to Unix #
Oct.: Sun moves from SunOS to Solaris 1 # |
|
1st software company to reach $1 billion in sales
May: Windows 3.0 released for $150, with support for more than 640kb of RAM, a better GUI, 16-color graphics, program & file managers, print manager, & 1st Windows SDK ("Software Development Kit") # #
Sept.: Ends OS/2 partnership with IBM # |
Motorola 68040 (32-bit, 25 MHz, 1.2 million transistors)
AMD clones Intel's 386 |
486-based computers available for $6000: 25 MHz, 4MB RAM, 150 MB hard drive, floppy, 14-inch monitor
PCMCIA spec released
Dec.: 92 million PCs in US # |
Dec.: Sun announces compiler now a separate purchase, leading developers to move to gcc # |
Dec.: Tim Berners-Lee creates World Wide Web at CERN # # |
|
|
Jan.: Linus Torvalds buys 33MHz 386 PC with 40MB hard drive to play "Prince of Persia" # #
June: GNU General Public License 2.0 released # #
Aug.: Linus Torvalds invites world to help develop Linux # # #
Sept.: Linux 0.01 (64 kb) released # #
SUN Solaris 1 released
Dec.: 1.2 million Unix licenses shipped this year # |
System 7 released: auto-ran multiple apps at same time, 256 color icons, aliases, separate folders for control panels & extensions, personal file sharing, virtual memory, & 32-bit addressing
QuickTime media software announced
Nov.: PowerBook 100 (16 MHz 68000 CPU, 20 MB hard drive, 2 MB RAM [up to 8 MB], 9' 640x400 passive matrix B&W screen, 2.5" thick, 5.1 lbs, SCSI Disk Mode allowed desktops to use it as external hard drive, $2500), PowerBook 140, & PowerBook 170 (25 MHz 68030 CPU, 20 MB hard drive, 2 MB RAM [up to 8 MB], 9.8" 640 x 400 active matrix B&W screen, 2.25" thick, 6.8 lbs, $4600) released with innovations such as CPU clocked back when on batteries & trackball in front center of keyboard; $1 billion sold in 1 year |
June: DOS 5.0 released #
Oct.: Windows 3.0a released, with multimedia support # #
US FTC begins investigation for monopolistic practices |
AMD introduces clone of Intel's i386DX |
CD-ROM available for $400 |
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) released as freeware by Phil Zimmerman |
Ban on business use of the Internet lifted
Gopher released
Quantum Computer Services renames itself to America OnLine # |
|
Jan.: Gulf War begins |
Jan.: Andy Tanenbaum attacks Linux, & Linus responds #
Jan.: 1st Linux FAQ & Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux #
May: Linux 0.96 (174 kb) can run X Windows # #
1000 users of Linux
Dec.: Novell buys UNIX System Labs from AT&T for $150 million #
Dec.: Yggdrasil, 1st Linux distro, released for $50 #
SuSE formed # |
Jan.: CEO John Sculley coins "Personal Digital Assistant" #
Apple partners with IBM to create Taligent, a company designed to create Apple's next-generation OS |
Apr.: Windows 3.1 introduced, with TrueType fonts, OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), WYSIWYG printing, & File Manager; 3 million sold in 2 months # #
Oct.: Windows for Workgroups 3.1 integrates networking, peer-to-peer file & printer sharing, Mail, & Schedule+ # # |
|
Creative Labs introduces the Sound Blaster Pro, the 1st stereo PC sound card # |
|
Jan.: 727,000 nodes on Internet # |
|
May: The Real World premieres on MTV #
Michaelangelo virus # |
Jan.: 1st mention of Linux Documentation Project #
Mar.: Courts rule (USL v. BSDI) that BSD isn't protected as a trade secret #
Mar.: Red Hat incorporated (as ACC Corp.) #
May: NetBSD makes 1st official release: 0.8 #
July: Slackware released (oldest distro still in existence) #
Aug.: Debian Linux distro founded # #
Sept.: 75 companies agree to adopt Spec 1170 def. of UNIX API calls #
Oct.: Novell transfers UNIX trademark to Internation X/Open standards org #
Dec.: FreeBSD 1.0 # |
Feb.: After 50,000 machines, NeXT announces it's dropping hardware to focus on software #
Aug.: Newton MessagePad 100 PDA launched (640 kb RAM, 3 MB ROM stores apps & Newton OS, 20 MHz 32-bit ARM 610 CPU, 240x336 resolution, 2.8 x 4-inch LCD screen, 1 PCMCIA slot, 9600bps data transfer); only 80,000 sold over lifetime #
Discontinues Apple II after 17 years & 5,000,000 sold |
Apr.: 25 million Windows users #
Aug.: Windows NT 3.1, a newly-created operating system for business & 1st to be full 32-bit, released (Also see NT 3.1 pic 2); 6 million lines of code # #
Dec.: MS-DOS 6.0 released #
Encarta, 1st multimedia encyclopedia for PC
25 million licensed Windows users # |
Motorola PowerPC 601 introduced
Mar.: Intel Pentium (60 MHz, 32-bit, 3.2 million transistors) #
Pentium-based PCs available for $5000: 66 MHz, 16 MB RAM, 340 MB hard drive, floppy, 15-inch monitor |
|
|
Mar.: NCSA's Mosaic, the 1st popular graphical browser for the Web, released
Apr.: CERN announces that the World Wide Web is free, forever #
Network Solutions established to register domain names
Whitehouse.gov email addresses set up |
|
|
Mar.: Linux 1.0 kernel released # # #
Mar.: Linux Journal founded #
Apr.: SuSE Linux released in beta #
Red Hat Linux introduced # |
Power Mac 6100, using the new PowerPC processor, introduced
System 7.5 released
Apple licenses Mac OS to clone makers
QuickTake 100, 1st consumer color digital camera under $1000
Announces Copland, the next generation OS |
July: Settlement with FTC reached #
Dept. of Justice begins antitrust investigation
Sept.: Windows NT 3.5 released; 9 million lines of code # #
DOS 6.22 released
At 38, Gates is richest man in America with $9.35 B # |
|
1 in 3 US households has PC #
Iomega Zip Drive with 100MB storage media, for Macs (SCSI) & PCs (Parallel) #
$99 Connectix QuickCam, black-and-white digital video camera at 320x240, for Macs |
|
Mosaic, renamed Netscape, founded
Oct.: Netscape Navigator 1.0 released (introducing cookies & <CENTER>) #
Oct.: 1st web ads (468x60 pixel banners) introduced on HotWired, for Zima, Club Med, & AT&T #
Netscape releases spec for SSL, the Secure Sockets Layer
David Filo & Jerry Yang create Yahoo! to organize their bookmarks
28.8 modem avail. for $330
1st widespread spam by Canter & Siegel
Radio stations begin broadcasting online
First Virtual, world's 1st cyberbank
1st secure e-commerce transaction: Sting's "Ten Summoner's Tales" for $12.48 + shipping
Dec.: 3000 web sites in world # |
Entertainment Software Ratings Board created # |
|
Sept.: SCO buys UNIX Systems from Novell # #
Oct.: 1st release of OpenBSD # |
DOS Compatibility Card released so Macs can run Windows
Apple sells its interest in Taligent to IBM (see 1992), abandoning that direction for it's next OS
Last release of A/UX (3.1.1) #
Last release of NeXTSTEP (3.3) # |
Mar.: Microsoft Bob released & quickly fails #
August 24: Windows 95 released, a 32-bit operating system with a new interface, a new start menu, built-in inter-networking, & forced Internet Explorer 1.0 on users; DOS included; 1 million copies sell in 4 days, 7 million in 1 month # # #
Aug.: Internet Explorer 1.0 web browser released #
Office 95 released, combining Word, Excel, PowerPoint, & Access
Signs "consent decree" with Dept. of Justice to end antitrust investigation
Company sales reach $6 B #
Gates becomes richest man in world with $12.9 B # |
Intel Pentium at 120 MHz
Nov.: Intel Pentium Pro (150-200 MHz, 5.5 million transistors), 1st Intel processor specifically for servers # |
IBM has 7.3% market share for PCs #
Iomega Jaz (1 GB cartridges) |
IBM released OS/2 Warp 3
May: SUN announces Java programming language # |
33.6 modems avail.
Web responsible for most traffic on Internet
Amazon.com launches from a 2-bedroom house
eBay hosts its 1st auction |
Sony PlayStation introduced for $300 (32-bit processor, CD-ROM based, 640x480 resolution, 24-bit color) # |
Aug.: Netscape's IPO begins dot-com stock frenzy as stock goes from $28 to $72 on opening day #
DVD announced
Sony Handycam DCR-VX1000 ($4000), 1st camcorder to capture digital video & 1st with FireWire port for transferring digital video to PC # |
May: Linus Torvalds suggests Tux the penguin as Linux mascot #
June: Linux 2.0 kernel released #
June: Debian's 1st real release, 1.1 (Buzz), with 474 packages #
Oct.: KDE project announced #
Dec.: Debian releases 1.2 (Rex), with 848 packages #
Open Software Foundation merges with X/Open to become The Open Group, which owns the Unix trademark & manages Motif & CDE (Common Desktop Environment) # |
Dec.: Steve Jobs returns as "Interim CEO" of Apple
Copland (see 1994) canceled |
Aug.: Windows NT 4.0 released, with an interface based on Windows 95; 20 million lines of code # #
Nov.: Windows CE 1.0 released for handhelds, with a PIM, PocketWord, & PocketExcel # # #
Office 97 released |
|
Jan.: 3Com's Palm Pilot 1000 PDA released; 350,000 ship during the year # #
July: ESCOM AG, owners of Amiga, files for bankruptcy # |
|
10,000,000 computers on Internet
56Kbps modem invented #
Mar.: Netscape 2.0 (supporting frames & JavaScript) released #
Netscape 3.0 released
Dec.: 500,000 web sites in world # |
|
Dec.: Alan Greenspan warns of "irrational exuberance" #
Beanie Babies & Tickle-Me Elmo introduced ;#
Motorola StarTAC, 1st stylish cell phone, introduced, with 2nd battery, vibrate mode, & clamshell design # |
Jan.: Greylock & August Capital invest $6.25M in Cygnus Solutions, 1st VCs to invest in open source business #
Miguel de Icaza starts GNOME project #
May: Eric Raymond presents "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" talk #
June: Debian releases 1.3 (Bo), with 974 packages # |
Apple buys NeXT
July: Mac OS 8 released, introducing a multi-threaded Finder, contextual menus, & support for USB & FireWire; PowerPC only starting with 8.5 # |
Internet Explorer 4.0 released
Invests $150 million in Apple in return for IE being default Web browser on Macs
Buys WebTV
Oct.: Justice Dep't. files antitrust suit for bundling IE with Windows # #
Nov.: Windows CE 2.0 released (32-bit color, TrueType fonts, Ethernet) # # # |
Intel Pentium II (7.5 million transistors, 233-300 MHz, 0.35 microns) #
Intel Pentium MMX released with multimedia extensions |
Computer with Pentium II available for $4000: 233 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 4GB hard drive, floppy, CD-ROM, 17-inch monitor
Mar.: Gateway 2000 buys Amiga #
Sony Mavica MVC-FD5, 1st digital camera to save onto floppy disk, with 640x480 resolution (0.3 megapixel) & 2.5" LCD, for $600 # |
|
June: Netscape Communicator 4.0 released #
Dec.: 1 million web sites in world #
Dec.: Slashdot opens # |
|
May: IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue beats Garry Kasparov at chess #
Patents on business methods recognized # |
"Open Source" coined
July: Debian 2.0 (Hamm, with 1500+ packages) & KDE 1.0 released # #
July: Mandrake created #
Aug.: Linus Torvalds on cover of Forbes #
Oct.: FreeBSD 3.0 # |
iMac rolled out for $1299 (PowerPC 233 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 4 GB hard drive, & no floppy)
System 8.5 introduced, with Sherlock search utility & 32-bit icons, running on PowerPC only # |
May 18: Antitrust lawsuit filed by 20 states Attorneys General & DC # #
June: Windows 98 released, supporting DVDs & USB, & integrating Internet Explorer Web browser into operating system & even the desktop # #
June: CIH, a highly destructive virus, 1st appears; it's been used again & again by other viruses #
August & Sept.: Videotapes of Bill Gates' deposition in the antitrust suit make Microsoft look very bad #
MSFT ends year at $35, up 140%, while sales hit $15.2 billion # |
Intel Celeron
Intel Xeon |
Research in Motion intros the RIM Blackberry 850 Wireless Handheld, with wireless delivery of email & a QWERTY keyboard # #
Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300, 1st portable MP3 player, with 32 MB of storage (1/2 hr of music!) # |
Mar.: BeOS released #
Feb.: Netscape open sources its Web browser as the Mozilla Project #
Apr.: Netscape releases Navigator 5.0 source code #
Nov.: AOL buys Netscape for $4.3 billion # |
Sept.: Google Inc. founded # |
Nintendo's Game Boy Color hand-held video game system, with 56 simultaneous colors #
Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 1.0, do-it-yourself robotics # |
Furby introduced # |
IBM declares support for Linux, legitimizing it
LinuxWorld 1 conference opens
Jan.: Linux kernel 2.2 released #
Aug.: Red Hap IPO, 8th largest 1st day gain in Wall Street history # # |
Oct.: Mac OS 9 released, 1st Mac OS that could be updated over the Net #
iMac available in 5 colors
Mac OS X Server 1.0 released, 1st Apple server in 5 years, includes WebObjects, QuickTime server, developer tools, Apache web server, and network administration tools
Announces 802.11b Wi-Fi wireless networking - AirPort - on all new iBook laptops |
Mar.: Melissa, 1st destructive mass-mailing virus, spreads rapidly using Word & Outlook # #
May: Windows 98 SE ("Second Edition") released, with IE 5 # #
July: Windows NT 5.0 misses ship date, so renamed Windows 2000 #
November 5: Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues findings of fact in antitrust suit, stating that Microsoft is a predatory monopoly #
Dec.: MSFT's all-time highest market cap # |
Feb.: Intel Pentium III (450-500 MHz, 9.5 million transistors, 0.25 microns) # |
Dec.: Gateway 2000 sells Amiga to Amino Development #
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer, 1st mainstream optical mouse # |
|
business.com sold for $7.5 million |
Sony Aibo ERS-110 ($1500), a cute robotic dog with AI # |
Y2K bug fears
Dec.: Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos is TIME's Person of the Year #
TiVo released # |
| |
|
Aug.: Debian releases 2.2 (Potato), with 3900+ packages #
Sun releases Solaris 8 OS
Konqueror 1.0 web browser released |
G4 Cube rolled out (8" x 8 " x 8 ") |
Feb.: Windows 2000 released (Professional, Server, Advanced Server, & Datacenter Server) # # #
May: ILOVEYOU virus uses social engineering to get people to open infected attachment in Outlook that steals passwords & launches DDOS attack on White House web site; costs >$10 billion to clean up # #
June: Windows ME (Millenium Edition) released, last of the DOS-based operating systems from Microsoft # #
June: Windows CE 3.0 released #
June: Judge Jackson order breakup of company into one for OS & one for apps, but later overturned # #
Ballmer becomes President & CEO, while Gates becomes Chairman & Chief Software Architect
.NET unveiled, but no one is sure what it is
C#, a Java-like programming language, announced |
AMD Athlon hits 1 GHz before Intel
Oct.: Pentium 4 introduced (1.4 & 1.5 GHz) #
Transmeta Crusoe, 1st smart processor |
Nov.: M-Systems DiskOnKey, 1st USB flash drive available from 8-32 MB #
Dec.: 168 million PCs in US; 60% of homes # |
OpenOffice.org formed |
|
Mar.: Sony PlayStation 2 for $300 # # # |
Mar.: NASDAQ peaks at 5132.52 #
Apr.: Internet stock bubble bursts # |
Linux kernel 2.4 released # |
Jan.: Apple introduces iTunes, which organizes digital music, rips CDs into digital music, & plays streaming audio #
Mar.: Mac OS X (Cheetah) rolled out, combining Unix under the hood & the ease of use of the Mac GUI, including iMovie & iTunes #
Nov.: The iPod, a portable digital music player, released for $400 (5 GB storage capacity, Mac only, & requiring iTunes); 125,000 sold by the end of the year # |
Feb.: Steve Ballmer says Linux is "a cancer" & "an intellectual property destroyer" #
July: Code Red worm infects 10s of 1000s of Windows servers running IIS # #
July: Sircam worm released, spreading through email & network shares #
Sept.: Nimda worm appears, spreading via emai |
![Apple ][](http://www.granneman.com/images/apple.jpg){kind=link}
