View source for Timeline of computing 1990–1999

{{short description|None}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2010}}

{{computing timeline|[[computing]] from 1990 to 1999}}

==1990==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| 1990
| [[Motorola]] releases the [[Motorola 68040|68040]] capable of 35 MIPS and integrated a far superior FPU. The 68040 was included in some of the Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga lineup.
|- valign="top"
| March 19
| [[Macintosh IIfx]] released. Based on a 40&nbsp;MHz version of the 68030 it achieved 10 [[Million instructions per second|MIPS]]. It also had a faster [[SCSI]] adapter, which could transfer 3.0&nbsp;Mbit/s.
|- valign="top"
| May 22
| Introduction of [[Windows 3.0]] by [[Microsoft]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Making of Microsoft: How Bill Gates and His Team Created the World's Most Successful Software Company |date=1991 |publisher=[[Prima Publishing]] |isbn=1-55958-071-2 |page=239 |chapter=Vision for the Future |access-date=January 14, 2020 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/makingofmicrosof00ichb/}}</ref> It is a multitasking system that maintains compatibility with [[MS-DOS]], allowing several MS-DOS tasks to be run at once on an 80386 or above. This created a real threat to the Macintosh and despite a similar product, IBM's OS/2, it was very successful.
|- valign="top"
| June
| [[Commodore International|Commodore]] releases the [[Amiga 3000]], the first [[32-bit]] Amiga. It used a [[Motorola 68030]] processor and the upgraded ECS chipset. [[Amiga OS]] 2.0 was released with the launch of the A3000, which exploited its 32-bit architecture. Later variants included the Amiga 3000UX, launched as a low end UNIX workstation, running [[UNIX System V]]. The A3000T was the first Amiga to use a [[Computer case|tower]] form factor, which increased expansion potential.
|- valign="top"
| October 1
| [[Microsoft Office]] released.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1990 |title=The History of Microsoft - 1990 |language=en |access-date=2025-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003213427/https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1990 |archive-date=2021-10-03}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| October 15
| [[Macintosh Classic]] released,<ref name="specs">{{Cite web |date=July 26, 2017 |title=Macintosh Classic: Technical Specifications |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/SP198 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612075028/http://support.apple.com/kb/SP198 |archive-date=June 12, 2013 |access-date=September 13, 2022 |website=support.apple.com}}</ref> an identical replacement to the Macintosh Plus of January 1986. Also came the Macintosh IIsi which ran a 68030 processor at 20&nbsp;MHz to achieve 5.0 [[million instructions per second|MIPS]], and also a 256 colour video adapter.

|- valign="top"
| November 12
| [[Tim Berners-Lee]] submitted a proposal to the management at [[CERN]] which coined the term [[World Wide Web|WorldWideWeb]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berners-Lee |first1=Tim |author-link1=Tim Berners-Lee |last2=Cailliau |first2=Robert |author-link2=Robert Cailliau |date=12 November 1990 |title=WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project |url=http://w3.org/Proposal.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502080527/http://www.w3.org/Proposal.html |archive-date=2 May 2015 |access-date=16 February 2025}}</ref>

|- valign="top"
|November
|Macintosh LC released. This ran a 68020 processor at 16&nbsp;MHz to achieve 2.6 [[million instructions per second|MIPS]], it had a slightly improved SCSI adapter and a 256 colour video adapter.
|- valign="top"
| 1990
| [[Multimedia PC]] (MPC) Level 1 specification published by a council of companies including Microsoft and Creative Labs. This specified the minimum standards for a Multimedia IBM PC. The MPC level 1 specification originally required a 12&nbsp;MHz [[80286]] microprocessor, but this was later revised to require a 16&nbsp;MHz [[80386SX]] microprocessor as the 80286 was realised to be inadequate. It also required a [[CD-ROM]] drive capable of 150&nbsp;kB/s (single speed) and also of Audio CD output. Companies can, after paying a fee, use the MPC logo on their product.
|}

==1991==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| 1991
| Borland acquires Ashton-Tate Corporation and the [[Dbase]] program.
|- valign="top"
| 1991
| Phil Zimmermann releases the [[public key]] [[encryption]] program [[Pretty Good Privacy|PGP]] along with its source code, which quickly appears on the Internet.
|- valign="top"
| March
| [[Commodore International|Commodore]] release the [[Commodore CDTV|CDTV]], an [[Amiga]] multimedia appliance with CD-ROM drive but no floppy drive.
|- valign="top"
| April 22
| The Intel 80486 SX is released as a cheaper alternative to 80486 DX, with the key difference being the lack of an integrated [[floating-point unit|FPU]].
|- valign="top"
| May
| [[Creative Labs]] introduces the [[Sound Blaster#Sound Blaster Pro, CT1330|Sound Blaster Pro]] [[sound card]].
|- valign="top"
| June
| To promote [[OS/2]], [[Bill Gates]] took every opportunity after its release to say 'DOS is dead'; however, the development of DOS 5.0 led to the permanent dropping of OS/2 development.

Unlike version 4, this version was properly tested through the distribution of [[Beta (software testing)|beta]] versions to over 7,500 users.{{Citation needed paragraph|date=June 2021|reason=The previous two claims need references to reliable sources.}} This version included the ability to load device drivers and TSR programs above the 640 [[KiB]] boundary (into UMBs and the HMA), freeing more RAM for programs. This version marked the end of collaboration between Microsoft and IBM on DOS.
|- valign="top"
| August
| The [[Linux kernel]] is born with the following post to the Usenet Newsgroup comp.os.minix by [[Linus Torvalds]], a Finnish college student:<br />''"Hello everybody out there using minix- I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones."''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.os.minix/dlNtH7RRrGA/SwRavCzVE7gJ|title = Redirecting to Google Groups}}</ref>

Linux has become one of the most widely used [[Unix-like]] operating system kernels in the world today. It originally only ran on Intel 386 processors, but years later added many different types of computers (now includes complete range from small to [[supercomputer]]s and IBM mainframes), including Sun [[SPARC]], [[DEC Alpha|DEC/Compaq Alpha]], and many [[ARM architecture|ARM]], [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]], [[PowerPC]], and [[Motorola 68000]] based computers.

In 1992, the [[GNU project]] adopted the Linux kernel for use with GNU systems while they waited for the development of their own kernel, [[GNU Hurd]], to be completed. The GNU project's aim is to provide a complete and [[Free software|free]] Unix-like operating system, combining the Hurd or Linux kernel with a complete suite of free software to run on it. Torvalds changed the licence of the Linux kernel from one prohibiting commercial use to the [[GNU General Public License]] on February 1, 1992.
|}

==1992==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| 1992
| First 64-bit [[microprocessor]]s; the first 64-bit variant of [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]], the [[R4000|MIPS R4000]] was introduced in 1992 (announced October 1, 1991) and another major RISC microprocessor, [[DEC Alpha]] (no longer produced), was also introduced in 1992. Intel had introduced the [[Intel i860]] RISC microprocessor in 1989, marketed as a "64-bit microprocessor", while it had essentially a 32-bit architecture (non-pure "32/64-bit"), enhanced with a 3D graphics unit capable of 64-bit. Computers with 64-bit registers (but not addressing, and not microprocessors) had appeared decades earlier, as far back as [[IBM 7030 Stretch]] (considered a failure) in 1962, and in the [[Cray-1]] supercomputer installed at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] in 1976.
|- valign="top"
| 1992
| {{Blockquote|Windows NT addresses 2 gigabytes of RAM which is more than any application will ever need|Microsoft on the development of Windows NT.{{Citation needed|reason=This sounds like an urban legend more than an actual quote. There were already supercomputing applications using far more than 2 GiB of RAM in 1992.|date=July 2018}}{{context needed|date=June 2021}}}} 
|- valign="top"
| ?
| Introduction of [[CD-i]] launched by [[Philips]].<ref name="philipscdi.com">{{Cite web |title=Philipscdi.com :: History |url=https://www.philipscdi.com/history.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730050356/https://www.philipscdi.com/history.htm |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=www.philipscdi.com}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1992
| The [[PowerPC 600#PowerPC 601|PowerPC 601]], developed by IBM, Motorola and Apple Computer, was released. This was the first generation of [[PowerPC]] processors.
|-
|1992
|The last "[[luggable]]" computer of the [[Compaq Portable series]], the [[Compaq Portable 486]], was released.
|- valign="top"
| 1992
| IBM [[ThinkPad]] 700C laptop created. It was lightweight compared to its predecessors.<ref name="null2007" />
|- valign="top"
| March
| First release of [[386BSD]]: the first fully operational Unix operating system to be completely free and open source, and to be able to ran on PC-compatible computer systems based on the [[32-bit]] [[Intel 80386]] ("i386").
|- valign="top"
| April
| Introduction of [[Windows 3.1]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bajpai|first1=S. K.|title=Introduction To Computers And C Programming|date=2007|publisher=New Age International|isbn=9788122413793|page=96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hpKj29LPuAC&pg=PA96|language=en}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| May
|''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' released by [[id Software]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sanglard|first1=Fabien|title=Game Engine Black Book: Wolfenstein 3D|date=2017|publisher=Sanglard Publishing|page=71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lq4yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|language=en}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| June
|[[Sound Blaster 16]] ASP introduced by [[Creative Labs]].
|- valign="top"
| October
| [[Commodore International]] releases the [[Amiga 1200]] and [[Amiga 4000]]. Both machines included the improved [[Advanced Graphics Architecture]] chipset. The 1200 had a 14&nbsp;MHz 68020 processor; the 4000 had a 25&nbsp;MHz 68040.
|- valign="top"
| November 10
|[[Digital Equipment Corporation]] introduces the [[DEC Alpha|Alpha AXP]] architecture and the Alpha-based [[DEC 3000 AXP]] workstations, [[DEC 4000 AXP]] departmental servers and the [[DEC 7000/10000 AXP|DEC 7000 AXP]] enterprise servers.
|}

==1993==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| January 23
| [[NCSA Mosaic|Mosaic]] graphical web browser launched.<ref name=Kirschenbaum2013>{{citation |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07/30/_10_most_influential_software_programs_of_all_time_from_sabre_to_minecraft.html |last=Kirschenbaum |first=Matthew |date=July 2013 |title=10 Most Influential Software Programs Ever |work= [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |location=USA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=William |title=Mosaic – The First Global Web Browser |url=http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_mosaic.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702183017/http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_mosaic.htm |archive-date=2 July 2007 |access-date=22 February 2011}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1993
| Commercial providers were allowed to sell Internet connections to individuals. Many people began using the Internet, especially with the new interface provided by the World-Wide Web (see 1989) and [[Mosaic (web browser)|NCSA Mosaic]].
|- valign="top"
| 1993
| Release of the first version of [[Eloquens (software)|ELOQUENS]], a [[text-to-speech]] commercial software, from [[CSELT]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balestri |first1=Marcello |title=3rd European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology (Eurospeech 1993) |last2=Lazzaretto |first2=Stefano |last3=Salza |first3=Pier Luigi |last4=Sandri |first4=Stefano |date=22 September 1993 |pages=2091–2094 |chapter=The CSELT system for Italian text-to-speech synthesis |doi=10.21437/Eurospeech.1993-468 |s2cid=42744136}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1993
| The first web magazine, ''The Virtual Journal'', is published but fails commercially.
|- valign="top"
| 1993
| [[Novell]] purchases [[Digital Research]]; [[DR DOS]] becomes Novell DOS.
|- valign="top"
| 1993
| The [[MP3]] file format was published. This sound format later became the most common standard for music on PCs and later [[digital audio player]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Proceedings of the first ACM international conference on Multimedia - MULTIMEDIA '93 |vauthors=Patel K, Smith BC, Rowe LA |date=1993-09-01 |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |isbn=978-0-89791-596-0 |series=ACM Multimedia |location=New York City |pages=75–82 |chapter=Performance of a software MPEG video decoder |doi=10.1145/166266.166274 |access-date=15 December 2021 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/166266.166274 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215125939/https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/166266.166274 |archive-date=15 December 2021 |url-status=live |s2cid=3773268}} Reference 3 in the paper is to Committee Draft of Standard ISO/IEC 11172, December 6, 1991.</ref>
|- valign="top"
| March
| Microsoft introduces MS-DOS 6.0, including [[DoubleSpace]] disk compression.
|- valign="top"
| March 22
| Intel releases the [[P5 (microarchitecture)|P5]]-based [[Pentium]] processor, 60 and 66&nbsp;MHz versions. It has over 3.1 million transistors and can achieve up to 100 MIPS. [[John H. Crawford]] co-managed the design of the P5;<ref>p. 54, "Intel Turns 35: Now What?", David L. Margulius, ''InfoWorld'', July 21, 2003, {{ISSN|0199-6649}}.</ref> Donald Alpert managed the architectural team;<ref>p. 21, "[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=216745 Architecture of the Pentium microprocessor]", D. Alpert and D. Avnon, ''IEEE Micro'', '''13''', #3 (June 1993), pp. 11–21, {{doi|10.1109/40.216745}}.</ref> and [[Vinod K. Dham]] headed the P5 group.<ref>p. 90, "Inside Intel", ''Business Week'', #3268, June 1, 1992.</ref>
|- valign="top"
| May
| [[Multimedia PC#MPC Level 2|MPC Level 2]] specification introduced (see November 1990). This was designed to allow playback of a 15 frames per second video in a 320x240 pixel window. The key difference from MPC level 1 is the requirement of a CD-ROM drive capable of 300&nbsp;kB/s (double speed). Products are also required to be tested by the MPC council, making MPC Level 2 compatibility a stamp of certification.
|- valign="top"
| June
| [[Severe Tire Damage (band)|Severe Tire Damage]] made the first live music performance on the Internet, using [[MBone]] technology.
|- valign="top"
| July 27
| Microsoft released the [[Windows NT 3.1]] operating system that supported 32-bit programs.
|- valign="top"
| December 10
| ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' was released by [[id Software]].<br />The [[PC compatible|PC]] began to be considered as a serious games-playing machine, reinforced by the earlier release in November of ''[[Sam & Max Hit the Road]]''.
|}

==1994==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| 1994
| Several major PC games are released, such as ''[[Command & Conquer]]'', ''[[Alone in the Dark 2]]'', ''[[Theme Park (computer game)|Theme Park]]'', ''[[Magic Carpet (video game)|Magic Carpet]]'', ''[[Descent (video game)|Descent]]'' and ''[[Little Big Adventure]]''. Other, less significant releases for the PC included ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Final Unity]]'', ''[[Full Throttle (1995 video game)|Full Throttle]]'' and ''[[Terminal Velocity (computer game)|Terminal Velocity]]''.<br />This success of the PC as a games platform was partly due to and partly a cause of significantly increased PC ownership among the general public during the early–mid 1990s. This also reflected the rapidly increasing quality of games available for the PC.
|-
| 1994
| [[Peter Shor]] devises an algorithm which lets [[quantum computer]]s determine the factorization of large integers quickly. This is the first interesting problem for which quantum computers promise a significant speed-up, and it therefore generates a lot of interest in quantum computers.
|- valign="top"
| 1994
| [[DNA computing]] ''proof of concept'' on toy [[travelling salesman problem]]; a method for input/output still to be determined.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last1=Adleman |first1=L. M. |year=1994 |title=Molecular computation of solutions to combinatorial problems |journal=Science |volume=266 |issue=5187 |pages=1021–1024 |bibcode=1994Sci...266.1021A |citeseerx=10.1.1.54.2565 |doi=10.1126/science.7973651 |pmid=7973651}} — The first DNA computing paper. Describes a solution for the directed [[Hamiltonian path problem]]. Also available here: {{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/molecular-science/papers/fp-sci94.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050206144827/http://www.usc.edu/dept/molecular-science/papers/fp-sci94.pdf |archive-date=2005-02-06 |access-date=2005-11-21}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1994
| Motorola released the [[Motorola 68060|68060]] processor.
|- valign="top"
| 1994
| [[Adobe Photoshop]] 3.0 graphics editing software released.<ref name=null2007>{{citation |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/130207/article.html?page=0 |date=April 2007 |work= [[PC World]] |location=USA |title=50 Best Tech Products of All Time |author=Christopher Null |author-link=Christopher Null }}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| June
| Microsoft releases MS-DOS 6.22, containing disk compression under the name [[DriveSpace]] after settling a dispute with [[Stac Electronics|Stac]] over their compression program, Stacker. Microsoft had removed DoubleSpace from MS-DOS 6.21 in February after a jury found them guilty of patent infringement, and a judge later ordered Microsoft to recall all unsold infringing products worldwide. MS-DOS 6.22 was the last standalone version of MS-DOS released.
|- valign="top"
| March 7
| Intel released Pentium processor, 90 and 100&nbsp;MHz versions.
|- valign="top"
| March 14
| [[Linus Torvalds]] released version 1.0 of the [[Linux]] kernel.
|- valign="top"
| April 29
| [[Commodore International]] declares bankruptcy. Commodore's assets were eventually sold to German PC manufacturer [[Escom (computer company)|ESCOM]] in 1995.
|-
|August 
|[[IBM]] releases the [[IBM Simon]] a forerunner to the [[smartphone]]. 
|- valign="top"
| September
| [[PC DOS 6.3]] is released, essentially the same as version 5.0; this release by IBM included more bundled software, such as Stacker and anti-virus software.
|- valign="top"
| October 10
| [[Intel]] releases the [[Pentium]] processor, 75&nbsp;MHz version.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/quickrefyr.htm#1994|title=Intel Microprocessor Quick Reference Guide - Year|website=www.intel.com|access-date=2017-01-28}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| December 1994
| [[Netscape Navigator]] 1.0 web browser released.<ref name=null2007 /> It was written as an alternative to NCSA Mosaic.
|- valign="top"
| December 3
| Sony releases its first [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] console in Japan; to date, over 100 million units have been sold.
|}

==1995==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| ?
| [[Jaz drive]] removable hard disk storage introduced.<ref name="CornellTimeline">{{cite web|url=http://www.dpworkshop.org/dpm-eng/timeline/viewall.html|title=Digital Preservation and Technology Timeline|author=Cornell University Library|year=2003|work=Digital Preservation Management|location=USA|access-date=2017-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806054331/http://www.dpworkshop.org/dpm-eng/timeline/viewall.html|archive-date=August 6, 2015|url-status=dead|author-link=Cornell University Library}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| ?
| [[Zip drive]] removable floppy disk storage introduced.<ref name=CornellTimeline />
|- valign="top"
| March 1995
| Linus released Linux Kernel v1.2.0 (Linux 95).
|- valign="top"
| March 27, 1995
| Intel released Pentium processor, 120&nbsp;MHz version.
|- valign="top"
| May 23, 1995
| [[Sun Microsystems]] first announces [[Java (software platform)|Java]] at the SunWorld conference.
|- valign="top"
| June 1, 1995
| Intel released Pentium processor, 133&nbsp;MHz version.
|- valign="top"
| August 24, 1995
| Microsoft releases [[Windows 95]], replacing Windows 3.1 with a pre-emptively multitasked 32-bit operating system that integrated MS-DOS and Windows.
|- valign="top"
| October 3, 1995
| [[Be Inc.]] launch the [[BeBox]], featuring two [[PowerPC 600#PowerPC 603|PowerPC 603]] processors running at 66&nbsp;MHz, and running their new operating system [[BeOS]].
|- valign="top"
| November 1, 1995
| Intel released Pentium Pro, 150, 166, 180, and 200&nbsp;MHz versions, on one day. It was the first product based on the [[P6 (microarchitecture)|P6 microarchitecture]], later used in the Pentium II, III, M, and Core processors. It achieves 440 [[Instructions per second|MIPS]] and contains 5.5 million transistors; this is nearly 2,400 times as many as the first microprocessor, the 4004; and capable of 70,000 times as many instructions per second.
|- valign="top"
| November 6, 1995
| [[3dfx]] releases Voodoo, the first consumer 3D accelerator, able to render scenes in real time and in high resolution. GLQuake (an [[OpenGL]] port of [[Quake (video game)|Quake]]) is the first popular game using this new technology. Other games soon follow, including Tomb Raider.
|- valign="top"
| December 1995
| [[JavaScript]] development announced by [[Netscape Communications Corporation|Netscape]].
|- valign="top"
| December 21, 1995
| First public release of the [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]] programming language (version 0.95)
|- valign="top"
| December 28, 1995
| CompuServe blocked access to over 200 sexually explicit [[Usenet]] newsgroups, partly to avoid confrontation with the German government. Access to all but five groups was restored on February 13, 1996.
|}

==1996==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| 1996
| [[Nokia]] released the [[Nokia 9000]], the first of Nokia's smartphones.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nokia 8 hopes to beat Apple and Samsung with 'bothie', a new version of the selfie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/16/nokia-8-bothie-flagship-android-smartphone-apple-samsung|website=The Guardian|access-date=21 September 2017|date=16 August 2017}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1996
| ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' released – representing the dramatic increases in both software and hardware technology since ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'', of three years prior.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=How 'Quake' Changed Video Games Forever|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/how-quake-changed-video-games-forever-20160622|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=June 22, 2016|access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref> Other notable releases included ''[[Civilization 2]]'', ''[[Tomb Raider]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Berger|first1=Arthur Asa|title=Video Games: A Popular Culture Phenomenon|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351299947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJsuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|page=58|language=en}}</ref> ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert]]''<ref>{{cite magazine|title=How 'Command & Conquer: Red Alert' Changed Strategy Games Forever|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/how-command-conquer-red-alert-changed-strategy-games-w448186|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=21 September 2017|archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213081311/http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/how-command-conquer-red-alert-changed-strategy-games-w448186|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''[[Grand Prix Manager 2]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Prix Manager 2 for Windows (1996)|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/grand-prix-manager-2|website=MobyGames|access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref> On the more controversial front ''[[Battlecruiser 3000AD]]'' was also released, but its advertising had to be censored.
|- valign="top"
| rowspan="2" | January
| [[Netscape Navigator|Netscape Navigator 2.0]] released. First browser to support [[JavaScript]].
|- valign="top"
|Windows 95 OSR2 (OEM System Release 2) was released{{snd}}partly to fix bugs found in release 1{{snd}}but only to computer retailers for sale with new systems. There were actually two separate releases of Windows 95 OSR2 before the introduction of Windows 98, the second of which contained both USB and FAT32 support{{snd}}the main selling points of Windows 98. FAT32 is a new filing system that provides support for disk partitions bigger than 2.1&nbsp;GB and is better at coping with large disks (especially in terms of wasted space).
|- valign="top"
| January 4
| Intel released Pentium processor, 150 and 166&nbsp;MHz versions.
|- valign="top"
| April 17
| [[Toshiba]] released the [[Toshiba Libretto|Libretto]] sub-notebook. With a volume of 821.1&nbsp;cm<sup>3</sup> and a weight of just 840 g, it was the smallest [[PC compatible]] computer to be released at that time.
|- valign="top"
| June 9
| Linux 2.0 released and it was a significant improvement over the earlier versions: it was the first to support multiple architectures (originally developed for the Intel 386 processor, it now supported Digital's Alpha architecture and would very soon support the SPARC architecture, and many others). It was also the first stable kernel to support SMP, kernel modules, and much more.
|- valign="top"
| July 4
| [[Hotmail]], founded by [[Sabeer Bhatia]] and [[Jack Smith (Hotmail)|Jack Smith]], is commercially launched on [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] in the United States, symbolically representing ''freedom'' from [[Internet service provider]]s. (Hotmail is now owned and operated by [[Microsoft]]; it is rebranded as [[Outlook.com]] in 2013.)
|- valign="top"
| July 14
| The first public release of [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]], version 2.1 for Windows.<ref name="Affiliated">{{cite web |year=2006 |title=Affiliated Organization of Firefox and Mozilla |url=http://www.foxkeh.com/downloads/history/history-original.pdf |access-date=5 September 2010 |website=Mozilla Japan |publisher=[[Mozilla Foundation]]}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| September 23
| Audio Highway announced the Listen Up player, the first [[MP3]] [[digital audio player]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Audio+Highway+Announces+the+Listen+UP+Player+--+A+New+Device+that...-a018696161 |title=Audio Highway Announces the Listen UP Player -- A New Device that Delivers Personalized Audio Content to Information-Hungry, On-the-Go Consumers - Free Online Library |access-date=January 3, 2011 |archive-date=January 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106023703/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Audio+Highway+Announces+the+Listen+UP+Player+--+A+New+Device+that...-a018696161 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was later released in September 1997.
|- valign="top"
| October 6
| Intel releases a 200&nbsp;MHz version of the Pentium processor.
|- valign="top"
| November
| [[Telecom Italia]] released TIM Card, the first prepaid card for cellular phones in the world; designed by [[CSELT]].
|- valign="top"
| December
| id Software releases QuakeWorld, a version of Quake designed for Internet multiplayer games. Several innovative{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} features such as movement prediction make the game playable even over low-speed and high-latency Internet connections.
|}

==1997==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
|?
| [[Tim Berners-Lee]] awarded the Institute of Physics' 1997 Duddell Medal for inventing the World Wide Web (see 1989).
|- valign="top"
|?
| ''[[Grand Theft Auto (video game)|Grand Theft Auto]]'' and ''[[Quake 2]]'' were released while Lara Croft returned in ''[[Tomb Raider II]]''. As standards for graphics kept increasing, 3D graphics cards were beginning to become mandatory for game players.
|- valign="top"
| January 8
| Intel released Pentium MMX, 166 and 200 MHz versions. Its [[MMX (instruction set)|MMX]] instruction set is designed to increase performance when running multimedia applications.
|- valign="top"
| May 7
| Intel releases the [[Pentium II]] processor, 233, 266, and 300&nbsp;MHz versions. It has a larger on-chip cache and expanded instruction set.
|- valign="top"
| May 11
| [[IBM]]'s [[Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue]] became the first computer to beat a reigning World Chess Champion, [[Garry Kasparov]], in a full chess match. The computer had played him before, losing 5/6 games in February 1996.
|- valign="top"
| June 2
| Intel released Pentium MMX, 233&nbsp;MHz version.
|- valign="top"
| August 6
| After 18 months of losses [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]] was in serious financial trouble. Microsoft invested in Apple, buying 100,000 non-voting shares worth $150 million; many Apple owners disapproved. One condition was that Apple would drop the long-running [[Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.|court case]]; attempting to sue Microsoft for copying the look and feel of their operating system when designing Windows.
|- valign="top"
| September
| [[Internet Explorer 4]].0 was released.
|}

==1998==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| January
| Compaq Computer Corporation announces pending acquisition of [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] for $9.6 billion.
|- valign="top"
| February
| Intel released the 333&nbsp;MHz Pentium II processor. Code-named Deschutes, they used the new 0.25 micrometre manufacturing process, so they can run faster and generate less heat.
|- valign="top"
| March
| [[Be Inc.]] released [[BeOS]] R3. This was the first BeOS version available for [[IBM PC compatible|x86 PCs]] and [[Power Mac]]s.
|- valign="top"
| May
| Apple announces the [[iMac]], an all-in-one with integral 15&nbsp;inch (381&nbsp;mm) multiscan monitor, 24× CD-ROM, 2× available USB ports, 56&nbsp;kbit/s [[modem]], two stereo speakers, and Ethernet, but no floppy drive. It was encased in translucent [[Bondi Blue]] and Ice plastic. Quantity shipping began in August. Designed by [[Jonathan Ive]], it was the model that enabled Apple to become profitable again.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
|- valign="top"
| June 25
| Microsoft released [[Windows 98]].<ref name="WITP-Release">{{cite web |author=Paul Thurrott |date=March 11, 1998 |title=Windows 98 release date set: June 25 |url=http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/17693/windows-98-release-date-set-june-25.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131180448/http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/17693/windows-98-release-date-set-june-25.html |archive-date=January 31, 2010 |access-date=February 18, 2017 |publisher=WinInfo}}</ref> Some U.S. attorneys tried to block its release since the new OS interfaces with other programs, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, and so effectively closes the market of such software to other companies. Microsoft has fought back with a letter to the White House suggesting that 26 of its industry allies say that a delay in the release of the new OS could damage the U.S. economy. The main selling points of Windows 98 were its support for USB and its support for disk partitions greater than 2&nbsp;GB with FAT32 (although FAT32 was actually released with Windows 95 OSR2).
|- valign="top"
| September
| Upstart [[eMachines]] announces two home PCs priced at $399 and $499, creating the sub-$600 market and launching a price war. Within four months, the new company becomes the No. 5 computer maker at retail.
|}

==1999==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| January 25
| Linux Kernel 2.2.0 is released. The number of people running Linux is estimated at over 10 million, making it an important operating system in the Unix market, and increasingly so in the PC market.
|- valign="top"
| February 22
| AMD releases a K6-III clocked at 400&nbsp;MHz and a 450&nbsp;MHz version for [[Original equipment manufacturer|OEM]]s. It contains about 23 million transistors, and requires motherboards using a [[Super Socket 7]]. It supports a 100&nbsp;MHz front side bus (FSB), an improvement over AMD's prior chips that used a 66&nbsp;MHz FSB. The use of a 100&nbsp;MHz FSB brought technical equivalence with the 100&nbsp;MHz FSB used on the Intel Pentium II.
|- valign="top"
| August 31
| Apple releases the [[Power Mac G4]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Apple steps up to G4 Macs |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-steps-up-to-g4-macs-5000095960/ |publisher=[[ZDNet]]}}</ref> It is powered by the [[PowerPC G4]] chip from Motorola. Available in 400&nbsp;MHz, 450&nbsp;MHz and 500&nbsp;MHz versions, Apple claimed it as the first personal computer to be capable of over one billion floating-point operations per second.
|- valign="top"
| October 11
| Nvidia releases Geforce 256, claiming to be the first consumer level Graphics Processor Unit with Transform and Lighting Engine.
|
|- valign="top"
| November 29
| AMD releases an [[Athlon]] clocked at 750&nbsp;MHz.
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010605232405/http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~swhite/history.html ''A Brief History of Computing''], by Stephen White. The present article is a modified version of his timeline, used with [[Wikipedia:History of computing/Permission|permission]].<!--Does this still apply?-->
{{Timelines of computing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Computing 1990-1999}}
[[Category:Computing timelines|1990]]
[[Category:1990s in technology|C01]]
[[Category:1990s timelines|Computing]]