appendix a web

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584 Appendix A Appendix A 1965 Honeywell corporation introduces the H316 “Kitchen Computer.” This is the first home computer and is of- fered in the Neiman Marcus catalog for $10,600. 1970 Ken Thompson and Denis Ritchie create the UNIX oper- ating system at Bell Labs. UNIX will become the domi- nant operating system for critical applications on servers, workstations, and high-end microcomputers. History of Microcomputers 1971 In 1971, Dr. Ted Hoff puts together all the elements of a computer processor on a single silicon chip slightly larger than one square inch. The result of his efforts is the Intel 4004, the world’s first commercially available microprocessor. The chip is a four-bit computer containing 2,300 transistors (invented in 1948) that can perform 60,000 instruc- tions per second. Designed for use in a calculator, it sells for $200. Intel sells more than 100,000 calculators based on the 4004 chip. Almost overnight, the chip finds thousands of applications, paving the way for today’s computer-oriented world, and for the mass production of com- puter chips now containing millions of transistors. Steve Wozniak and Bill Fernandez create a computer from chips re- jected by local semiconductor com- panies. The computer is called the Cream Soda Computer because its creators drank Cragmont cream soda during its construction.

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Page 1: Appendix a web

584 Appendix A

Appendix A

1965

Honeywell corporation introduces the H316 “KitchenComputer.” This is the first home computer and is of-fered in the Neiman Marcus catalog for $10,600.

1970

Ken Thompson and Denis Ritchie create the UNIX oper-ating system at Bell Labs. UNIX will become the domi-nant operating system for critical applications on servers,workstations, and high-end microcomputers.

History of Microcomputers

1971

In 1971, Dr. Ted Hoff puts togetherall the elements of a computerprocessor on a single silicon chipslightly larger than one square inch.The result of his efforts is the Intel4004, the world’s first commerciallyavailable microprocessor. The chipis a four-bit computer containing2,300 transistors (invented in 1948)that can perform 60,000 instruc-tions per second. Designed for use ina calculator, it sells for $200. Intelsells more than 100,000 calculatorsbased on the 4004 chip. Almost

overnight, the chip finds thousandsof applications, paving the way fortoday’s computer-oriented world,and for the mass production of com-puter chips now containing millionsof transistors.

Steve Wozniak and Bill Fernandezcreate a computer from chips re-jected by local semiconductor com-panies. The computer is called theCream Soda Computer because itscreators drank Cragmont creamsoda during its construction.

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1972

Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighancreate the C programming languageat Bell Labs. The UNIX operatingsystem is re-written in C. C becomesone of the most popular pro-gramming languages for softwaredevelopment.

5.25-inch floppy diskettes are in-troduced, providing a portable wayto store and move data from ma-chine to machine.

1973

IBM introduces new mass storagedevices: the eight-inch, two-sidedfloppy disk that can hold 400 KB ofdata and the Winchester eight-inch,four-platter hard drive that can holdan amazing 70 MB of data.

Bob Metcalfe, working at XeroxPARC, creates a methodology toconnect computers called Ethernet.

1974

Intel announces the 8080 chip. Thisis a 2-MHz, eight-bit microproces-sor that can access 64 KB of mem-ory using a two-byte addressingstructure. It has over 6000 transis-tors on one chip. It can perform640,000 instructions per second.

Motorola introduces the 6800microprocessor. It is also an eight-bitprocessor and is used primarily inindustrial and automotive devices. Itwill become the chip of choice forApple computers sparking a long-running battle between fans of Inteland Motorola chips.

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586 Appendix A

1975

The first commercially available mi-crocomputer, the Altair 880, is thefirst machine to be called a “personalcomputer.” It has 64 KB of memoryand an open 100-line bus structure.It sells for $397 in kit form or $439assembled. The name “Altair” wassuggested by the 12-year-old daugh-ter of the publisher of Popular Elec-tronics because Altair was the

destination that evening for the En-terprise, the Star Trek space ship.

Two young college students, PaulAllen and Bill Gates, unveil theBASIC language interpreter for theAltair computer. During summer va-cation, the pair formed a companycalled Microsoft, which eventuallygrows into one of the largest soft-ware companies in the world.

1976

Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs buildthe Apple I computer. It is less pow-erful than the Altair, but also less ex-pensive and less complicated. Usersmust connect their own keyboardand video display, and have the op-tion of mounting the computer’smotherboard in any container they

choose — whether a metal case, awooden box, or a briefcase. Jobsand Wozniak form the Apple Com-puter Company together on AprilFool’s Day, naming the companyafter their favorite snack food.

1977

The Apple II computer is unveiled. Itcomes already assembled in a case,with a built-in keyboard. Users mustplug in their own TVs for monitors.Fully assembled microcomputers hitthe general market, with RadioShack, Commodore, and Apple allselling models. Sales are slow be-cause neither businesses nor the gen-

eral public know exactly what to dowith these new machines.

Datapoint Corporation an-nounces Attached Resource Com-puting Network (ARCnet), the firstcommercial LAN technology in-tended for use with microcomputerapplications.

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1978

Intel releases the 8086 microproces-sor, a 16-bit chip that sets a newstandard for power, capacity, andspeed in microprocessors.

Epson announces the MX-80dot-matrix printer, coupling highperformance with a relatively lowprice. (Epson from Japan set up op-erations in the United States in 1975

as Epson America, Inc., becomingone of the first of many foreign com-panies to contribute to the growthof the PC industry. Up until thispoint, it has been U.S. companiesonly. According to Epson, the com-pany gained 60 percent of the dot-matrix printer market with theMX-80.)

1979

Intel introduces the 8088 micro-processor, featuring 16-bit internalarchitecture and an eight-bit exter-nal bus.

Motorola introduces the 68000chip; it contains 68,000 transistors,hence the name. It will be used inearly Macintosh computers.

Software Arts, Inc., releases VisiCalc, the first com-mercial spreadsheet program for personal computers.VisiCalc is generally credited as being the program thatpaved the way for the personal computer in the businessworld.

Bob Metcalf, the developer of Eth-ernet, forms 3Com Corp. to developEthernet-based networking prod-ucts. Ethernet eventually evolvesinto the world’s most widely usednetwork system.MicroPro International introduces

WordStar, the first commerciallysuccessful word processing program for IBM-compatible microcomputers.

1980

IBM chooses Microsoft (co-foundedby Bill Gates and Paul Allen) to pro-vide the operating system for its up-coming PC. Microsoft purchases aprogram developed by Seattle Com-puter Products called Q-DOS (forQuick and Dirty OperatingSystem), and modifies it torun on IBM hardware.

Bell Laboratories inventsthe Bellmac-32, the first single-chip microprocessor with 32-bit internal architecture and a32-bit data bus.

Lotus Development Corporationunveils the Lotus 1-2-3 integratedspreadsheet program, combiningspreadsheet, graphics, and databasefeatures in one package.

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1981

Adam Osborne creates the world’s first “portable” computer, the Osborne1. It weighs about 22 pounds, has two 5.25-inch floppy drives, 64 KB ofRAM, and a five-inch monitor but no hard drive. It is based on the z80processor, runs the CP/M operating system, and sells for $1,795. The Os-borne 1 comes with WordStar (a word processing application) and Super-Calc (a spreadsheet application). It is a huge success.

IBM introduces the IBM-PC, with a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 CPU, 16 KB ofmemory, a keyboard, a monitor, one or two 5.25-inch floppy drives, and aprice tag of $2,495.

Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc., introduces the SmartModem 300,which quickly becomes the industry standard.

Xerox unveils the Xerox Star computer. Its high price eventually doomsthe computer to commercial failure, but its features inspire a whole new di-rection in computer design. Its little box on wheels (the first mouse) can ex-ecute commands on screen (the first graphical user interface).

1982

Intel releases the 80286, a 16-bitmicroprocessor.

Sun Microsystems is formed andthe company begins shipping theSun-1 workstation.

AutoCAD, a program for design-ing 2-D and 3-D objects, is released.AutoCAD will go on to revolution-

ize the architecture and engineeringindustries.

Work begins on the developmentof TCP/IP. The term Internet is usedfor the first time to describe theworldwide network of networksthat is emerging from theARPANET.

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1983

Time magazine features the com-puter as the 1982 “Machine of theYear,” acknowledging the com-puter’s new role in society.

Apple introduces the Lisa, a com-puter with a purely graphical operat-ing system and a mouse. The industryis excited, but Lisa’s $10,000 pricetag discourages buyers.

IBM unveils the IBM-PC XT, es-sentially a PC with a hard disk andmore memory. The XT can storeprograms and data on its built-in10MB hard disk.

The first version of the C++ pro-gramming language is developed, al-lowing programs to be written inreusable independent pieces, calledobjects.

The Compaq Portable computeris released, the first successful 100percent PC-compatible clone. (Theterm clone refers to any PC based onthe same architecture as the oneused in IBM’s personal computers.)Despite its hefty 28 pounds, it be-comes one of the first computers tobe lugged through airports.

1984

Adobe Systems releases its Post-Script system, allowing printers toproduce crisp print in a number oftypefaces, as well as elaborategraphic images.

Richard Stallman leaves MIT tostart the GNU (GNU’s not Unix)free software project. This projectwill grow adding thousands of pro-grams to the library of free (open-source, available under a speciallicense), software. This movement issupported by the Free SoftwareFoundation, an alternative to expen-sive, closed-source software.

Apple introduces the “user-friendly” Macintosh microcom-

puter, which features a graphicalinterface.

IBM ships the IBM-PC AT, a 6MHz computer using the Intel80286 processor, which sets thestandard for personal computersrunning DOS.

IBM introduces its Token Ringnetworking system. Reliable and re-dundant, it can send packets at 4Mbps; several years later it speedsup to16 Mbps.

Satellite Software Internationalintroduces the WordPerfect wordprocessing program.

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1985

Intel releases the 80386 processor (also called the 386),a 32-bit processor that can address more than four bil-lion bytes of memory and performs 10 times faster thanthe 80286.

Aldus releases Page-Maker for the Macintosh,the first desktop publishingsoftware for microcomput-ers. Coupled with Apple’sLaserWriter printer andAdobe’s PostScript system,PageMaker ushers in theera of desktop publishing.

Microsoft announces the Windows 1.0 operating en-vironment, featuring the first graphical user interface forPCs mirroring the interface found the previous year onthe Macintosh.

Hewlett-Packard introduces the LaserJet laser printer,featuring 300 dpi resolution.

1986

IBM delivers the PC convertible,IBM’s first laptop computer and thefirst Intel-based computer with a3.5-inch floppy disk drive.

Microsoft sells its first publicstock for $21 per share, raising $61million in the initial public offering.

The First International Confer-ence on CD-ROM technology isheld in Seattle, hosted by Microsoft.Compact discs are seen as the stor-age medium of the future for com-puter users.

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1987

IBM unveils the new PS/2 line ofcomputers, featuring a 20-MHz80386 processor at its top end.This product line includes theMicroChannel bus, but is not a

great success because con-sumers do not want to re-

place industry standardperipherals. To competewith IBM’s MicroChannel

architecture, a group of other computer makers intro-duces the EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architec-ture) bus.

IBM introduces its Video Graphics Array (VGA)monitor offering 256 colors at 320 � 200 resolution,and 16 colors at 640 � 480.

The Macintosh II computer, aimed at the desktoppublishing market, is introduced by Apple Computer. Itfeatures an SVGA monitor. Apple Computer introducesHyperCard, a programming language for the Macin-tosh, which uses the metaphor of a stack of index cardsto represent a program—a kind of visual programminglanguage. HyperCard allows linking across differentparts of a program or across different programs; thisconcept will lead to the devel-opment of HTML (hypertextmarkup language).

Motorola unveils its 68030microprocessor.

Novell introduces its net-work operating system, calledNetWare.

1988

IBM and Microsoft ship OS/2 1.0,the first multitasking desktop oper-ating system. Its high price, a steeplearning curve, and incompatibilitywith existing PCs contribute to itslack of market share.

Apple Computer files the singlebiggest lawsuit in the computerindustry against Microsoft andHewlett-Packard, claiming copy-right infringement of its operatingsystem and graphical user interface.

Hewlett-Packard introduces thefirst popular ink jet printer, the HPDeskjet.

Steve Jobs’ new company, NeXT,Inc., unveils the NeXT computer,featuring a 25-MHz Motorola

68030 processor. The NeXT is thefirst computer to use object-orientedprogramming in its operating systemand an optical drive rather than afloppy drive.

Apple introduces the Apple CDSC, a CD-ROM storage device al-lowing access to up to 650 MB ofdata.

A virus called the “InternetWorm” is released on the Internet,disabling about 10 percent of allInternet host computers.

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1989

Intel releases the 80486 chip (also called the 486), theworld’s first one-million-transistor microprocessor. The486 integrates a 386 CPU and math coprocessor ontothe same chip.

Tim Berners-Lee develops software around the hyper-text concept, enabling users to click on a word or phrasein a document and jump either to another locationwithin the document or to another file. This softwareprovides the foundation for the development of theWorld Wide Web, and is the basis for the first Webbrowsers.

The World Wide Web is created at CERN, the Euro-pean Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzer-land, for use by scientific researchers.

Microsoft’s Word forWindows introduction be-gins the Microsoft Officesuite adoption by millionsof users. Previously, Wordfor DOS had been thesecond-highest-sellingword processing packagebehind WordPerfect.

1990

Microsoft releases Windows 3.0, shipping one millioncopies in four months.

A multimedia PC specification setting the minimumhardware requirements for sound and graphics compo-nents of a PC is announced at the Microsoft MultimediaDevelopers’ Conference.

The National Science Foundation Network(NSFNET) replaces ARPANET as the backbone of theInternet.

Motorola announces its 32-bit microprocessor, the68040, incorporating 1.2 million transistors.

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1991

Linus Torvalds releases the sourcecode for Linux 0.01 (a clone ofUNIX for the 80386 personal com-puter) on the Internet. It quickly be-comes the base operating system ofthe open-source movement. Linux

will grow to become one of the mostwidely used open-source PC operat-ing systems.

Apple Computer launches thePowerBook series of battery-powered portable computers.

Apple, IBM, and Motorola sign acooperative agreement to design and

produce RISC-based chips, integratethe Mac OS into IBM’s enterprisesystems, produce a new object-oriented operating system, and de-velop common multimediastandards. The result is the PowerPCmicroprocessor.

1992

With an estimated 25 million users,the Internet becomes the world’slargest electronic mail network.

In Apple Computer’s five-yearcopyright infringement lawsuit,Judge Vaughn Walker rules in favorof defendants Microsoft andHewlett-Packard, finding that thegraphical user interface in dispute is

not covered under Apple’s copy-rights.

Microsoft ships the Windows 3.1operating environment, includingimproved memory management andTrueType fonts.

IBM introduces its ThinkPad lap-top computer.

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1993

Mosaic, a point-and-click graphicalWeb browser, is developed at theNational Center for Supercomput-ing Applications (NCSA), making

the Internet accessible to those out-side the scientific community.

Intel, mixing elements of its 486design with new processes, features,and technology, delivers the long-awaited Pentium processor. It offersa 64-bit data path and more than3.1 million transistors.

Apple Computer expands its en-tire product line, adding the Macin-tosh Color Classic, Macintosh LCIII, Macintosh Centris 610 and 650,Macintosh Quadra 800, and thePowerbooks 165c and 180c.

Apple introduces the NewtonMessagePad at the Macworld con-

vention, selling 50,000 units in thefirst 10 weeks.

Microsoft ships the Windows NToperating system.

IBM ships its first RISC-basedRS/6000 workstation, featuring thePowerPC 601 chip developed jointlyby Motorola, Apple, and IBM.

1994

Apple introduces the Power Macintosh line of micro-computers based on the PowerPC chip. This line intro-duces RISC to the desktop market. RISC was previouslyavailable only on high-end workstations.

Netscape Communications releases the NetscapeNavigator program, a World Wide Web browser basedon the Mosaic standard, but with more advancedfeatures.

Online service providers CompuServe, America On-line, and Prodigy add Internet access to their services.

After two million Pentium-based PCs have hit themarket, a flaw in the chip’s floating-point unit is foundby Dr. Thomas Nicely. His report is made public onCompuServe.

Red Hat Linux is introduced and quickly becomesthe most commonly used version of Linux.

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1995

Intel releases the Pentium Pro microprocessor.Motorola releases the PowerPC 604 chip, developed

jointly with Apple and IBM.Microsoft releases its Windows 95 operating system

with a massive marketing campaign, including prime-time TV commercials. Seven million copies are sold thefirst month, with sales reaching 26 million by year’s end.

Netscape Communications captures more than 80percent of the World Wide Web browser market, goingfrom a start-up company to a $2.9 billion company inone year.

A group of developers at Sun Microsystems create theJava development language. Because it enables pro-grammers to develop applications that will run on anyplatform, Java is seen as the future language of operat-ing systems, applications, and the World Wide Web.

Power Computing ships the first-ever Macintoshclones, the Power 100 series with a PowerPC 601processor.

eBay, the premier online auction house, is formed.

1996

Intel announces the 200 MHz Pen-tium processor.

U.S. Robotics releases thePalmPilot, a personal digital assis-tant that quickly gains enormouspopularity because of its rich fea-tures and ease of use.

Microsoft adds Internet connec-tion capability to its Windows 95operating system.

Several vendors introduce VirtualReality Modeling Language(VRML) authoring tools that pro-vide simple interfaces and drag-and-drop editing features to createthree-dimensional worlds with color,texture, video, and sound on theWeb.

The U.S. Congress enacts theCommunications Decency Act aspart of the Telecommunications Actof 1996. The act mandates fines ofup to $100,000 and prison terms fortransmission of any “comment, re-quest, suggestion, proposal, imageor other communication which isobscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or

indecent” over the Internet. The daythe law is passed, millions of Webpage backgrounds turn black inprotest. The law is immediatelychallenged on constitutionalgrounds, ultimately deemed uncon-stitutional, and repealed.

Sun Microsystems introduces theSun Ultra workstation that includesa 64-bit processor.

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1997

Intel announces MMX technology, which increases themultimedia capabilities of a micro-processor. Also, Intelannounces the Pentium II microprocessor. It has speedsof up to 333 MHz and introduces a new design in pack-aging, the Single Edge Contact (SEC) cartridge. It hasmore than 7.5 million transistors.

AMD and Cyrix step up efforts to compete with Intelfor the $1000-and-less PC market. Their competingprocessors are used by PC makers such as Dell, Com-paq, Gateway, and even IBM.

The U.S. Justice Department files an antitrust lawsuitagainst Microsoft, charging the company with anticom-

petitive behavior for forcing PC makers to bundle its In-ternet Explorer Web browser with Windows 95.

Netscape Communications and Microsoft releasenew versions of their Web browser. Netscape’s Commu-nicator 4 and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 4 provide afull suite of Internet tools, including Web browser, news-reader, HTML editor, conferencing program, and e-mailapplication.

Digital Video/Versatile Disc (DVD) technology is in-troduced. Capable of storing computer, audio, andvideo data, a single DVD disc can hold an entire movie.DVD is seen as the storage technology for the future, ul-timately replacing standard CD-ROM technology in PCand home entertainment systems.

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1998

Microsoft releases the Windows 98 operating system.Seen mainly as an upgrade to Windows 95, Windows 98is more reliable and less susceptible to crashes. It also of-fers improved Internet-related features, including abuilt-in copy of the Internet Explorer Web browser.

Netscape announces that it will post the source codeto the Navigator 5.0 Web browser on the Internet. Thisis a major step in the open-source software movement.

The Department of Justice expands its actions againstMicrosoft, attempting to block the release of Windows98 unless Microsoft agrees to remove the Internet Ex-plorer browser from the operating system. Microsoftfights back and a lengthy trial begins in federal court, as

the government attempts toprove that Microsoft is try-ing to hold back competi-tors such as Netscape.

Intel releases two newversions of its popular Pen-tium II chip. The Pentium

II Celeron offers slower performance than the standardPII, but is aimed at the $1,000-and-less PC market,which quickly embraces this chip. At the high end, thePentium II Xeon is designed for use in high-performanceworkstations and server systems, and it is priced accord-ingly. Both chips boost Intel’s market share, reachingdeeper into more vertical markets.

Apple Computer releases the colorful iMac, an all-in-one system geared to a youthful market. The small,lightweight system features the new G3 processor, whichoutperforms Pentium II-based PCs in many respects.The iMac uses only USB connections, forcing manyusers to purchase adapters for system peripherals, andthe computer does not include a floppy disk drive.

The new Internet Proto-col, version 6 (IPv6), draftstandard is released by theInternet Engineering TaskForce.

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1999

Intel unveils the Pentium III processor, which features9.5 million transistors. Although the Pentium III’s per-formance is not vastly superior to the Pentium II, it fea-tures enhancements that take greater advantage ofgraphically rich applications and Web sites. A morepowerful version of the chip (named Xeon) is also re-leased, for use in higher-end workstations and networkserver systems.

With its Athlon microprocessor, Advanced Micro De-vices finally releases a Pentium-class chip that outper-forms the Pentium III processor. The advance is seen asa boon for the lower-price computer market, which re-lies heavily on chips from Intel’s competitors.

Sun Microsystems acquires Star Division Corpora-tion and begins free distribution of StarOffice, a fullyfeatured alternative to Microsoft Office and other pro-prietary office productivity products.

Apple Computer introduces updated versions of itspopular iMac computer, including a laptop version, aswell as the new G4 system, with performance rated atone gigaflop, meaning the system can perform morethan one billion floating point operations per second.

The world braces for January 1, 2000, as fears ofthe “Millennium Bug” come to a head. As airlines, gov-ernment agencies, financial institutions, utilities, and

PC owners scramble to make their systems “Y2K-compliant,” some people panic, afraid that basic ser-vices will cease operation when the year changes from1999 to 2000.

Peter Merholz coins the term blog, a contraction ofWeb-log. In early 1999, there are already 50 recognizedblog sites on the Web. By 2005 the sites will number inthe hundreds of thousands.

The Internet Assigned Number Agency begins assign-ing Internet Protocol addresses using the new IPv6 ad-dressing structure.

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2000

Shortly after the new year, computer experts and gov-ernment officials around the world announce that nomajor damage resulted from the “millennium datechange,” when computer clocks rolled over from 1999to 2000. Immediately, a global debate begins to rage:had the entire “Y2K bug” been a hoax created by thecomputer industry, as a way to reap huge profits frompeople’s fears? Industry leaders defend their approach tothe Y2K issue, stating that years of planning and pre-ventive measures had helped the world avoid a globalcomputer-driven catastrophe that could have broughtthe planet’s economy to a stand-still.

Microsoft introduces Windows 2000 on February 17.It is the biggest commercial software project ever at-tempted and one of the largest engineering projects ofthe century, involving 5,345 full-time participants, overhalf of them engineers. The final product includes al-most 30 million lines of code.

On March 6, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) an-nounces the shipment of a 1GHz version of the Athlonprocessor, which will be used in PCs manufactured byCompaq and Gateway. It is the first 1GHz processor tobe commercially available to the consumer PC market.Within days, Intel Corp. announces the release of a1GHz version of the Pentium III processor.

In April, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jacksonrules that Microsoft is guilty of taking advantage of itsmonopoly in operating systems to hurt competitors andleverage better deals with its business partners. Soon af-ter the finding, the Department of Justice recommendsthat the judge break Microsoft into two separate com-panies: one focused solely on operating systems, theother focused solely on application development. Mi-crosoft quickly counters by offering to change a numberof its business practices. The judge rules to divide thesoftware giant into two companies.

IBM (International Business Machines) announcesthat it will being selling computers running the Linuxoperating system. As with other Linux vendors, the IBMversion of Linux will be open source.

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2001

Microsoft releases the Windows XPoperating system, with versions forhome computers and business desk-tops. The XP version of MicrosoftOffice also is unveiled.

After blaming digital music pi-rates for lost revenue, the RecordingIndustry Association of America(RIAA) files lawsuits against purvey-ors of MP3 technology—most no-tably Napster, an online service thatenables users to share MP3-formatfiles freely across the Internet. Thesuits effectively shut down Napster,but do not stop individuals andother file-sharing services from ex-changing music, text, and other files.

Apple introduces OS X, a newoperating system for Macintoshcomputers that is based on BSD(Berkley Software Distribution)Unix with a beautiful graphical in-terface. It is an immediate success.

Several versions of recordableDVD discs and drives hit the mar-ket. Users instantly adopt the de-vices to store digitized home movies,data, and software; even thoughmovie pirates soon begin copyingand distributing movies on DVD,most users find the large capacitydiscs a wonderful storage andbackup medium.

After several years of explosivegrowth, the “dot-com” revolutiongoes in to sudden reverse. As thou-sands of Web-based companies goout of business (giving rise to thephrase “dot-bomb”), tens of thou-sands of workers lose their jobs,shareholders suffer billions of dol-lars in losses, and the world’s finan-cial markets learn a valuable lesson.

Apple introduces the iPod, thepremier music player with a 5 GB

internal hard disk that will store1,000 CD-quality songs.

Technology takes an importantnew role in society after the UnitedStates is attacked by terrorists onSeptember 11, 2001. Governmentagencies, the military, and airlinesplace a new emphasis on security, re-cruiting new high-tech methods tomonitor travelers and inspect peopleand baggage for dangerous items. Al-most immediately, billions of dollarsare invested in the development ofnew bomb-detection technologiesand the creation of a huge, multina-tional database that can allow air-lines to track the movements ofpassengers through the flight system.

Europe and Asia adopt the newInternet Protocol standard IPv6, theUnited States has not yet moved toadopt the new standard.

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2002

Because of to the high cost of flyingand concerns about security, manyAmerican businesses drastically re-duce business travel. Increasingly,companies rely on technologies suchas video-conferencing, teleconfer-encing, and online document shar-ing to work with partners andcustomers.

After a year of devastating shake-outs, the dot-com world begins topick itself up again. The new breedof online entrepreneur bases compa-

nies on sound business practices,rather than the glamour of simplybeing “new economy.” Investmentsin new online ventures slow to atrickle, enabling only those compa-nies with the best ideas and realpromise of profits to flourish.

The wireless networking boomcontinues with an emphasis on en-abling handheld computers and tele-phones to access the Internet viawireless connections. Products suchas digital two-way pagers, wirelessphones, and combination tele-phone/PDAs sell at unprecedentedlevels.

Michael Robertson releases Lin-dows, a Linux-based operating sys-tem that has a full graphical userinterface and comes with Open Of-fice software. Wal-Mart and Fry’s,two large retail chains, market Lin-dows-based computer systems for as

little as $199. Microsoft immedi-ately sues Robertson to try to pre-vent the product from reaching themarket but loses.

XML (eXtensible Markup Lan-guage) and Web-based applicationstake center stage in many businesses.

Microsoft releases Windows XPServer Edition and the .NET Frame-work.

OpenOffice.org announces therelease of OpenOffice.org 1.0, afree, full-featured suite of productiv-ity applications compatible with thefile formats used by Microsoft Of-fice and many other office suites. Anopen-source alternative to expensiveapplication suites, OpenOffice.orgruns under Windows, Solaris,Linux, the Mac OS, and other oper-ating systems.

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2003

The National Center for Supercomputing Applicationsannounces that Mike Showerman and Craig Steffen cre-ated a supercomputer based on 70 Sony PlayStation 2gaming systems. The supercomputer cost about $50,000to build, uses the Linux operating system and a Hewlett-Packard high-speed switch, and can perform 6.5 billionmathematical operations per second.

The Slammer worm does over $1 billion in damageand demonstrates that no network is truly secure.

Lindows explodes across the globe with several coun-tries opting for this powerful and inexpensive alternativeto high-priced proprietary software.

Microsoft releases Office 2003, the latest in the Of-fice suite series.

Intel and AMD release 64-bit processors targeted forthe home computer market.

Apple introduces the Power Macintosh G5, a 64-bitprocessor.

In a continuing attempt to control file sharing, theRecording Industry Association of America begins suingindividuals who share files.

Apple opens an online music store, iTunes, offeringmore than 200,000 titles at $0.99 each.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) or 802.11b/g comes to theconsumer market with hot spots springing up both inhome networking and in some commercial locationssuch as Starbucks. With this new technology comes thenew technique called “war driving,” where individualsdrive around in automobiles with laptop computerslooking for wireless networks that will allow themaccess.

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Appendix A 603

2004

Spam (unsolicited e-mail) and malware (programs suchas viruses, Trojan Horses, and worms) cause majorproblems across the Internet. Crackers use viruses togenerate spam and attack companies. One example isMydoom, which takes control of more than 250,000personal computers and uses them to attack the SCOGroup Inc. Web site. Some estimates made in mid-2004show that nearly 85 percent of all e-mail messages canbe classified as spam.

By March, Apple’s Itunes store has sold 50 millionssongs.

Centralized computing makes a resurgence in bothhome and business environments with mainframe-likeservers feeding “stateless devices” formerly known asdumb terminals.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags, commonon some products, are seen as an invasion of privacywhen shoppers are scanned to see what brands they buy.

2005

The last of the old Internet Protocoladdresses (IPv4) is assigned and nowall Net devices worldwide must sup-port the new standard, IPv6.

Microsoft releases the nextversion of Windows, code namedLonghorn.

“Disposable computers” moveinto home computing. People nolonger try to repair a broken per-sonal computer; they simply throwaway the old one and buy a new one

that is quickly updated to containeverything on the old machine.

Bluetooth-enabled devices allowsharing of files, text, data, images,and music across a wide range ofpersonal devices, allowing you toplay tunes from your iPod on yourcell phone or as background on yourPDA.

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