The History of Computer – In the past 30 Year
In the past 30 years, the PC has gone through many stages of development. PC World looks back and makes you 30 of the most memorable moments of the PC history experience again.
One looks at the past 30 years, ie in 1983, is one of the former PC technologies almost stone age before. But the more one gets a sense of how dramatically the PC has evolved from then until today and could win with music players to smartphones increasing influence in the field of consumer electronics.
1983: Debut of the Compaq Portable founded only a year earlier.
Compaq dared the first step on the market with a new PC – the first portable IBM-compatible system, and thus a precursor of the modern mobile computing. Compaq was then one of the largest companies in the PC industry – two decades later was bought by HP.
1984: PCs Limited.
A college student named Michael Dell founded a small company in his dorm room. He builds computers to individually configurable. His task I developed one of the largest companies in the industry and is expanding to printers, servers, and network devices.
1985: Windows 1.0 is Released.
First, it was rumored two years earlier on the possible release of a software called Windows. Even up into next year hardly anyone pays attention to the program – no one suspects at this time, that this rather clumsy, graphical file manager would become the largest and most popular operating system in the world again.
1986: Intel launched the CPU 386.
The first 32-bit processor, the 386 can access seemingly endless memory – well, at least for the conditions at that time it felt pretty much endless. The 386 is the workhorse for a new generation of software, including revised versions of Windows.
1987: Launch of VGA.
Video Graphics Array (VGA) is used together with IBM’s PS/2-connector on the market. VGA survived, is a new standard and the lowest common denominator of Windows, video card and monitor. Even today, most monitors have a VGA port.
1988: EISA emerges.
Created in response to IBM’s in-house micro-channel interface, EISA is used primarily to support legacy ISA (PC AT) expansion cards. EISA PC peasants brought some success, until it is replaced by more modern standards (VESA, PCI, and AGP).
1989: HTML is invented.
Tim Brenner-Lee developed the programming language HyperText Markup Language – HTML shortly. A year later he used at the core of HTML form, which later became the World Wide Web.
1990: MS Windows 3.0 comes on the market.
Windows 3.0 has evolved from a simple graphical file manager for the most common way people interact with their PC. Windows 3.0 has a stunning 16 MB of memory. Crowds of software vendors have the new operating system are in their dealer shelves.
1991: Birth of the PCI connector.
The Peripheral Component interconnects (PCI short), developed by Intel, facilitates PC manufacturers and users of life considerably. PCI (the precursor of PCI Express) allows automatic configuration of interface cards, improves the speed and extends the general compatibility.
1992: AMD may sell cloned x86 CPUs.
Ten years earlier, in 1982, Intel licensed manufacturer AMD to produce ” cloned ” x86 chips. In 1986, Intel solves this agreement again, but AMD refutes this decision and breaks a long-running legal dispute from the fence. 1992 comes to an end this dispute and AMD wins the right to continue to produce and sell x86 CPUs in court. AMD brings new competitor Intel finally to repel its Pentium 4 in favor of the more powerful core CPUs.
1993: Publication of the Mosaic web browser.
Developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Mosaic web browser is not the first graphical browser, but is quickly becoming the most popular. The Mosaic makes a forerunner of all modern web browsers. Mosaics Lead Programmer, Marc Andreessen later founded Netscape.
1994: Launch of Windows 95
Windows 95 has now changed from chance-less DOS competitors to a complete operating system. With the release of Windows 95, MS-DOS is officially declared dead. Thanks to clever programming, Windows 95 dominated both 32 – and 16-bit applications. One of the greatest innovations – the user still rather confused at the beginning – the start menu.
1995: The first major 3D chips.
The first 3D accelerator that could be actually used for PC gaming – Rendition Verite 1000 and 3dfx Voodoo – mark a new era of graphics cards. Their development beset the hitherto widespread VGA and ” Windows Accelerator ” card.
1996 USB to dive.
In contrast to serial and parallel ports, which are like to picky, USB means the move to self-configuring devices and makes a connection of keyboards, mice and cameras to the PC to a real breeze. In addition, a completely new market for USB flash memory is created.
1997: DVD players and discs on the market.
DVD drives are part of many PCs, so solve the disused CD drives and from almost anywhere in the world, the new standard for optical drives – a move that does not create the future Blu-ray drives.
1998 DMCA is adopted.
In the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act is passed – a controversial law that strengthens inter alia, rights of copyright holders. It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, and services that crack the copy protection of a product – even when doing the copyright itself is not violated. In the European Union, a similar law was passed in 2001 with Directive 2001/29/EC.
1999: Ratification of 802.11a/b-Standards.
The first 802.11 standard for wireless networks is introduced – in parallel. The Wi-Fi Alliance is formed to certify and promote products based on this standard. Wi-Fi later developed into one of the network technologies with the greatest distribution and acceptance and is extremely popular with both companies, as well as private users.
2000: Electronic Arts published ” The Sims “.
Devised by Will Wright is simulated ” The Sims ” of virtual people everyday in the PC game. Even if the gameplay is rather sterile and a little soporific, climbs ” The Sims ” quickly the throne of the best-selling computer game of all time and consumes vast amounts of playing time while the player is trying to improve the everyday lives of their virtual people continuously.
2001: MS Windows XP comes.
Windows XP, Windows 2000 and ME combined in a 32-bit operating system and is thus the most successful OS in Microsoft’s history.
2002: Debut of Tablet PCs.
Also, if already existed tablets, they gain in 2002 with Microsoft’s Windows XP Tablet PC Edition more attention in the population. Although they do not make it to establish itself in the market, on the contrary, they are quite a flop. But they lay the foundation for the current Windows 8 tablets.
2003: AMD introduces the first 64-bit x86 CPU.
AMD is Intel previously, bringing the first group, the Athlon 64 CPU on the market, both 64-bit registers, and offers 64-bit memory in its architecture. Microsoft will then start developing a version of Windows with 64-bit support – Intel brings its own x86-64 only product on the market two years later.
2004: launch of the Intel Pentium M.
Developed by Intel’s design team in Israel, the CPU Pentium M, a heavily modified version of the Pentium 3 with focus on power efficiency instead of high clock speed – and thus a strong contrast to Intel’s Pentium 4, The M processor is the forerunner of the Core line of the manufacturer.
2005: Apple switches to Intel CPUs.
Until now, manufacturer’s Apple had left at his home PCs on PowerPC CPUs. Now, they are the technically powerful choices with this one-way street in front of – and therefore, switch to Intel processors. Even Apple’s operating systems and software are now natively adapted to the Intel architecture.
2006: Intel Core 2 Duo bring into the market.
The chip maker Intel Pentium 4 transmits its architecture with the new Core 2 Duo CPU finally to the grave. Although the new processor is clocked even lower than its predecessor, it creates more efficient, thanks to Intel Core 2 Duo instruction set, its competitor AMD to snatch the performance crown back. Core 2 Duo take much less energy and produce less heat than AMD processors.
2007: Premiere of the Apple iPhone.
Apple’s iPhone smartphones invented, developed an incredible popularity, forcing rival Google to put themselves in the foot area mobile operating systems. Microsoft also recognizes the potential and later brings touch capabilities and simplified user control in its PC and mobile operating systems.
2008: Sell more laptops than desktops.
Mobility, this year the primary focus for computer manufacturers – in particular, because the proliferation of Wi-Fi and falling prices, more and more people get to settle into a laptop. In some households, the laptop is now the only existing PC.
2009: Release of Windows 7.
After the failure of Windows Vista, Windows 7 will be the comeback that Microsoft needs so badly. With the sleek design and the larger demand management, Microsoft wants to carry on from the success of Windows XP. Windows 7 also perform the change from 32-bit to 64-bit Computing: There are significantly more 64-bit versions sold as 32-bit versions of the operating system.
2010: Apple releases the iPad.
In contrast to Microsoft’s futile efforts to bring exciting versions of its tablet PCs at the man just manages to Apple to dominate the market almost overnight. The key to success: The iPad is not a PC, which behaves like a Tablet, but a tablet through and through. In addition, users have the possibility to choose between several apps for little or no money – and the apps ecosystem increases as before.
2011: Intel designed Ultrabooks.
Spurred by the failure of PC manufacturers to copy Apple’s successful MacBook Air, Intel invents rough guideline’s ultraportable PC: the Ultrabook standards. With a strong financial injection, the Group helps companies to design and build the new laptops. Sales of Ultrabooks face may have made a double-edged sword out, will disappear from the market, the ultra-thin, ultra-light laptops but not for the time being.
2012: Debut of Windows 8.
The ambivalence operating system since Windows 95, Windows 8 it leads to a Microsoft Store for apps and ejects the Start menu in favor of a start-up screen on board that occupies the entire display. Windows 8 is a single controversy: either you hate it or you love it.
