Year Event
1990 In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee, working with Robert Cailliau at CERN propose a 'hypertext' system, which is the first start of the Internet as we know it today.
1990 Microsoft releases Windows 3.0 a completely new version of Microsoft Windows. The version will sell more than 3 million copies in one year.
1990 Microsoft exceeds $1 billion in sales and becomes the first company to do so.
1990 Godwin's Law is conceived.
1990 Microsoft releases its first product for the Russian market Russian DOS 4.01.
1990 The World, the first commercial Internet dial-up access provider comes online.
1990 Norton sells his software business to Symantec.
1990 Creative Labs introduces the SoundBlaster Pro.
1990 Quarterdeck releases its memory management program QEMM386 version 5.1 which quickly becomes the fastest-selling software program in the Untied States.
1990 Robert Noyce passes away June 3, 1990.
1990 The Multimedia Personal Computer (MPC) standards are developed by Tandy and Microsoft.
1990 Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operating systems.
1990 IBM introduces XGA.
1990 ARPANET replaced by NSFNET.
1990 The first search engine Archie, written by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan, and Mike Parker at McGill University in Montreal Canada is released on September 10, 1990
1990 GSM standard is defined.
1990 The NiMH battery begins being used for commercial use.
1990 Panda Software is founded.
1990 Archie, the first search engine is introduced on September 10, 1990.
1990 Gopher is developed at the University of Minnesota. The program is a menu-driven search-and-retrieval tool and helps Internet users location information online.
1990 Intel releases the 80386SL processor which uses low power and found in many portable computers.
1991 id Software is founded February 1, 1991.
1991 BSDi is founded.
1991 Tim Berners-Lee introduces WWW to the public on August 6, 1991.
1991 NSF opens the Internet to commercial use.
1991 Intel introduces the Intel 486SX chip in efforts to help bring a lower-cost processor to the PC market selling for $258.00
1991 The Sega Genesis game "Zero Wing" is introduced. The phrase "All your base are belong to us" later becomes a popular saying for computer gamers and geeks.
1991 Linux is introduced by Linus Torvald in 1991. Complete history on Linux can be found on our Linux / Unix history section.
1991 The World Wide Web is launched to the public August 6, 1991. Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at the European Partial Physics Laboratory (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland develops the Web as a research tool.
1991 The programming language FORTRAN 90 is created.
1991 Following its decision not to develop operating systems cooperatively with IBM, Microsoft changes the name of OS/2 to Windows NT.
1991 Creative Labs releases a multimedia upgrade kit that includes a CD-ROM drive, the SoundBlaster Pro sound card, a MIDI kit and a variety of software applications. The kit allows IBM compatible users to obtain all tools needed to meet the MPC standards.
1991 Pretty Good Privacy more commonly known as PGP a public key used for encryption is released as Freeware by Philip Zimmerman.
1991 The computer Monkey Virus is first discovered in Edmonton, Canada.
1991 The DLT tape drive is released as a very reliable, high-speed and high-capacity tape drive solution.
1991 The Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) is developed by Intel, Xircom and Zenith Data Systems.
1991 TrueType a scalable font is introduced and developed by Microsoft and Apple and is used on all Apple computers and PC computers running Windows.
1991 MS-DOS 5.0 was released June, 1991.
1992 Internet Society formed.
1992 Grace Hopper passes away January 1, 1992.
1992 NSFNET upgraded to T-3 backbone.
1992 Microsoft introduces Windows 3.1. It sells more than 1 million copies within the first two months of its release.
1992 Intel releases the 486DX2 chip with a clock doubling ability that generates higher operating speeds.
1992 Microsoft acquires Fox Software in June, maker of FoxPro.
1992 VESA local bus is introduced.
1992 Radio Shack releases the M2500 XL/2 and M4020 SX personal computers, which are the first personal based upon the MPC specification.
1992 The Reusable Alkaline battery is used for commercial use.
1992 GeCAD is founded.
1992 Thrustmaster is founded.
1992 TWAIN a standard interface for scanning equipment is developed by the TWAIN consortium, as it was called, consisted of representatives from Aldus, Caere, Eastman, Kodak, Hewlett Packard and Logitech.
1992 Microsoft and Hewlett Packard develops ECP.
1992 MIME standard is defined.
1992 Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is developed by SQL Access Group.
1993 Fifty World Wide Web servers are known to exist as of January.
1993 Winsock is released January 1993.
1993 President Bill Clinton puts the United States White House online with a World Wide Web page and E-mail address for the President, Vice President and first lady.
1993 Microsoft releases Windows NT, Microsoft Office 4.0 and MS-DOS 6.0.
1993 Intel develops PPGA.
1993 Efficient Networks is established.
1993 Tandy sells its computer business to AST Research.
1993 Intel releases the Pentium Processor. The processor is a 60 MHz processor, incorporates 3.2 million transistors and sells for $878.00.
1993 Microsoft releases Windows NT 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
1993 The NCSA releases the Mosaic browser.
1993 Neomagic is founded.
1993 Wine begins to be developed.
1993 John Scully is named president of Apple Computers.
1993 IrDA is founded.
1993 FRISK software is founded.
1993 Funcom is founded.
1993 PowerQuest is founded.
1993 The Internet experiences massive growth.
1993 ADSI is developed at Bellcore
1993 The Environmental Protection Agency, along with 50 computer companies, establish Energy Star guidelines which aim to decrease the amount of power a PC uses when they are idle.
1993 Developed by IBM, Motorola and Apple the PowerPC processor for the Apple Power Mac is introduced and later included in the Power Mac.
1993 VCD is introduced.
1993 The PC game DOOM by IdSoftware was released December 1993. Today DOOM is thought of as a turning point for first person shooters and for games in general.
1993 The computer game Myst is released and later is honored for being one of the most popular, well known, and sold IBM compatible and Apple Macintosh title.
1994 Netscape is found by Marc Andreesen and James H. Clark.
1994 Commodore computers files Bankruptcy.
1994 Vice President Al Gore makes a speech where he coins the term "Information Superhighway".
1994 IBM releases OS/2 Warp.
1994 VESA Local Bus 2.0 is released.
1994 3DFX is founded.
1994 Iomega releases its Zip disk drive and diskettes.
1994 Red Hat Linux is founded.
1994 The World Wide Web Consortium is founded by Tim Bernes-Lee.
1994 Microsoft releases its beta for Windows 95, code named Chicago.
1994 Rasmus Lerdorf creates PHP.
1994 Hotwired.com runs the Internets first banner ad.
1994 A mathematical flaw in the Intel Pentium involving the Pentium not correctly performing floating-point calculations is discovered. Later this leads to Intel millions of processors.
1994 YAHOO is created in April, 1994.
1994 MS-DOS 6.22 was released April, 1994
1994 ANSI approves the ATA standard May 12, 1994.
1994 Microsoft releases Windows 3.11.
1994 Jay Miner passes away June 20, 1994.
1994 Norway's telecom company, Telenor, starts a research project that later becomes Opera Software
1994 W3C organization is founded by Tim Bernes-Lee.
1994 Commodore completed its file for bankruptcy.
1994 The Mach Project ends.
1995 The dot-com boom starts.
1995
On December 24, 1994 Unisys and CompuServe announced that they expected licensing fees for software that creates and displays GIF images. This caused a lot of hysteria among developers and website owners using GIF images because of potential future GIF taxes which lead to the development of the PNG format.
1995 Apple allows other computer companies to clone its computer.
1995 Microsoft BOB is released.
1995 The first Wiki is created.
1995 The first VoIP software (Vocaltec) is released allowing end users to make voice calls over the Internet.
1995 Apple develops FireWire.
1995 Netscape goes public at $28.00 a share and by the closing ends at $58.00 a share.
1995 The first E3 is held in Las Vegas Nevada.
1995 Microsoft and General Electric’s NBC television network form a partnership.
1995 LiveScript is renamed to JavaScript.
1995 Java is introduced.
1995 Microsoft Releases Windows 95, within four days the software sells more than 1 million copies.
1995 One of the largest and well known e-commerce sites today opens its website for the first time. Amazon.com is officially opened July of 1995.
1995 DSVD is released.
1995 EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar.
1995 Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia.
1995 CD-E is introduced to the general public.
1995 EDO memory is introduced.
1995 Intel releases the new motherboard form factor ATX.
1995 Lotus becomes a part of IBM.
1995 USB standard is released.
1996 Netgear is founded January 8, 1996.
1996 Intel releases the 200 MHz P6.
1996 Telecom Act deregulates data networks.
1996 More e-mail is sent than postal mail in USA.
1996 CREN ended its support and since then the network has cease to exist.
1996 What first started off as a Usenet, IMDb becomes incorporated as the Internet Movie Database, Ltd.
1996 Google is first developed by Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
1996 KDE is started to be developed by Matthias Ettrich
1996 Macromedia purchases FutureWave and later releases Macromedia Flash 1.0
1996 The CDA amendment to the U.S. 1996 Telecommunications Act that went into effect on February 8, 1996. The law was intended to protect children from obscenity on the Internet, but many Internet users argued that its language was too vague and it violated the rights of free speech. Protesters against the law turned their web pages black and displayed blue ribbon icons downloaded from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. February 8, 1996 is more commonly known as "black Thursday".
1996 Cray Research merges with SGI.
1996 ATA-2 is approved by ANSI.
1996 IBM and Sears sell Prodigy is sold to Internet Wireless.
1996 AT&T introduces Worldnet.
1996 Microsoft introduces DirectX.
1996 AT&T spins off the system and technology unit which renames itself Lucent Technologies.
1996 IBM computer Deep Blue beats chess master Garry Kasparov in two chess matches.
1996 NEC merges its PC operations outside Japan with Packard Bell.
1996 Sony enters the PC market with the release of VAIO.
1996 Creative Labs introduces the 3D Blaster card its first graphics card to be released to the computer market.
1996 Apple Stock sinks to a 10-year low of less than $18.00 a share.
1996 U.S. Robotics Pilot is announced.
1996 Seagate has completed the merger of Conner Peripherals.
1996 Microsoft releases Windows CE.
1996 Tandy Corp. announces it will either sell or close all of its 17 incredible Universe stores and 19 of its Computer City stores because of low sales and losses in revenue.
1996 WebTV is introduced allowing users to browse the web from their TV.
1996 MSNBC makes its debut.
1996 Microsoft introduces the IntelliMouse also known as a wheel mouse.
1996 Acer America Corporation introduces its designer home PCs.
1996 Sun Microsystems releases its line of network computers.
1996 Apple buys NeXT Software Inc. for $400 million and acquires Steve Jobs, Apple’s cofounder, as a consultant.
1996 Microsoft Windows CE 1.0 is released as a portable Operating System solution.
1996 Bit 3 becomes part of SBS Technologies.
1996 Seymour Cray passes away October 5, 1996.
1996 K56Flex is announced in November by Lucent and Rockwell.
1996 The ATSC approves of HDTV on December 24, 1996.
1997 Mosaic development and support officially discontinued on January 7, 1997.
1997 The PNG standard is introduced on January 10, 1997.
1997 Internet2 consortium is established.
1997 IEEE releases 802.11 (WiFi) standard.
1997 Intel introduces the MMX chip.
1997 ATA-3 is approved by ANSI.
1997 Several computer manufactures introduce sub 1,000 computers, computers that cost less than $1,000.00.
1997 AOL faces several lawsuits from subscribers who are upset about the difficulties encountered when attempting to connect to its services.
1997 IBM’s Deep Blue computer defeats world champion chess player Garry Kasparov in their second six-game showdown, winning the tie-breaking game in only 62 minutes.
1997 The dancing baby becomes one of the Internets first fads. The dancingbaby is a short 3D animation of a small baby wearing diapers dancing. It was first created by Michael Girard and later tweaked by Ron Lussier at LucasArts who released it on a CompuServe forum as chacha.avi.
1997 Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish.
1997 A cult known as the Heaven's Gate that earns its money from designing web sites commits a mass suicide on March 27, 1997.
1997 Digital Video Discs / Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) go on sale.
1997 Microsoft buys WebTV Networks for $425 million.
1997 CompUSA joins Dell and Gateway in selling build-to-order PC computers.
1997 Bill Gates is now the world’s richest businessman.
1997 The NASA Pathfinder Web site, which is running real-time images sent from the Pathfinder on Mars receives more than 100 million hits during its first four days, in response to the high popularity NASA sets up 25 mirror pages to handle the traffic. The site sets a new popularity record.
1997 Microsoft begins working on its own search engine.
1997 The TRUSTe organization is founded.
1997 Microsoft releases Microsoft Office 97.
1997 Microsoft announces Windows 98.
1997 3Com buys U.S. Robotics for $6.6 billion making the consolidation the largest in the history of computer companies.
1997 Apple releases MAC OS 8.
1997 Nullsoft is founded by Justin Frankel.
1997 Microsoft invests $150 million in Apple Computers Inc. and agrees to continue creating software for Apple computers, in agreement Apple makes Microsoft Internet Explorer its browser of choice for Macintosh computers.
1997 The Li-Ion battery begins being used for commercial uses.
1997 The Intel Pentium II 233 MHz processor is released.
1997 IEEE introduced 802.11 the wireless network standard in June 1997.
1997 Advanced Graphics Port or AGP designed for Video cards. Designed by Intel is released August of 1997.
1997 Microsoft Windows CE 2.x is released.
1997 Cyrix is established.
1997 Riven, the sequel to Myst is released in October 1997.
1997 Microsoft acquires Hotmail a free e-mail service in December 1997.
1998 Internet weblogs begin to appear.
1998 Intel releases the Celeron processor.
1998 Compaq Computer purchases Digital Equipment Corporation for $9.6 billion on January 26, 1998.
1998 Hearings open between Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice to whether Microsoft has a monopoly on the software market.
1998 The DMCA is passed.
1998 ATA-4 is approved by ANSI.
1998 Lite-on is founded.
1998 eMachines is founded.
1998 3DNow! is introduced by AMD.
1998 Sun releases the JavaStation
1998 Netscape releases Navigator 5.0 as well as revealing its complete source code for Navigator on it’s Web site.
1998 Bill Gates, is hit in the face with a cream pie.
1998 During the demonstration of a pre-release copy of Windows 98 at Comdex Bill Gates and an assistant demonstrate how to install a scanner. During the demonstration Windows 98 caused an error message.
1998 V.90 is announced and agreed on February 6, 1998
1998 Sun Microsystems begins shipping the JavaStation in March of 1998.
1998 Saehan's MPMan becomes the first MP3 player released in Japan to the public in spring of 1998.
1998 SETI@Home is introduced on June 8, 1998.
1998 Microsoft Windows 98 is officially released on June 25, 1998.
1998 Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page September 7, 1998.
1998 The CST is initiated by ETA.
1998 AMR is released September 9, 1998
1998 Rockstar Games is founded.
1998 MySQL is introduced.
1998 PayPal is founded.
1998 Amazon purchases IMDb.
1998 Apple introduces the iMac, the iMac helps bring Apple back on the computer maps as a very easy and friendly computer.
1998 Award, well known for its computer BIOS becomes part of Phoenix, another company well known for its computer BIOS.
1998 Computer Hope is established in November 1998.
1999 The Victoria's Secret fashion show becomes the first major webcast on the Internet attracting over 1.5 million visitors on February 5, 1999. Unfortunately not everyone was able to view the webcast because of the popularity.
1999 Microsoft acquires Access software April 19, 1999.
1999 IEEE introduced 802.11b.
1999 The Intel Pentium III 500 MHz is released.
1999 Microsoft releases Windows CE 3.0
1999 RSAC becomes part of ICRA
1999 Aims Labs goes out of business.
1999 Amazon agrees to buy Accept.com, Alexa Internet (Alexa.com), and Exchange.com.
1999 AOL purchases Nullsoft.
1999 National Semiconductor announced it will exit the PC processor market. June 30, 1999 - VIA Technologies announces it will acquire Cyrix from National Semiconductor.
1999 NVIDIA introduces the GPU.
1999 Iomega releases its Zip plus disk drive and diskettes.
1999 Sun Microsystems acquires StarDivision, the developers behind the StarOffice suite of software.
1999 The D programming language starts development.
1999 On December 1, 1999 the most expensive Internet domain was sold by Marc Ostrofsky for $7.5 Million.