GO TO --->

[1926-1970][1971-1976][1977-1980][1981-1983][1984-1986][1987-1990][1991-1993][1994-1996][1997-1998]

1997

January

Intel's MMX is the biggest advance in PC processors since the 386. Not a new chip, but a new technology that will be applied across Intel's entire line of CPUs, MMX speeds up key multimedia and communications operations using a new set of 57 processors instructions. The Pentium MMX chip also has a 32K cache instead of the ordinary Pentium's 16K, delivering a substantial processing speed boost with any application. Six big names have started selling MMX system: Micron, Dell, Packard Bell, NEC, Toshiba, and Gateway 2000. These heavy hitters all had their own spin on next-generation multimedia hardware.

• SAN FRANCISCO--Apple Computer (AAPL) will raise the stakes in the performance battle with nemesis Intel later this year by introducing a 500-MHz Macintosh. As previously reported by CNET, the system will use a processor from Exponential Technology, a company that rose from obscurity to make headlines last year when it announced plans to manufacture a 500-MHz chip. Apple is in fact a major investor in Exponential and the two have been doing joint development work on the chip, dubbed the X704. Exponential is planning to ship its X704 processors in the second quarter running at 466-, 500-, and 533-MHz.

• Apple Computer (AAPL)acquire NEXT software a Steve Jobs company, for $430 millions.

• Gateway acquires assets of AMIGA Technologies, GmbH

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D., March 27, 1997 - Gateway 2000, Inc. (Nasdaq: GATE) today announced that the company has made an offer to acquire the assets of AMIGA Technologies including all patents, trademarks and trade names. The company is a subsidiary of ESCOM AG, a German-based computer company that went into bankruptcy in July of 1996. AMIGA led the industry in combining computer graphics, animation, and film sequences with stereo sound known today as multimedia.

The offer has been accepted by the court-appointed Administrator in Bankruptcy in Germany acting on behalf of AMIGA. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

"This acquisition is good news for Gateway and customers of AMIGA," said Rick Snyder, president and CEO of Gateway 2000. "It will strengthen our intellectual property position and invigorate a company that has been a pioneer in multimedia solutions and operating systems technology."

AMIGA Technologies will be renamed AMIGA International. The company will operate as a separate business unit and will retain its current president, Petro Tyschtschenko, who will work to develop new products for the AMIGA market.

"Gateway 2000 will give us new life and energy for the future," said Tyschtschenko.

• Intel is shipping new samples of its MMX-capable Pentium II processor to vendors and system board manufacturers with some samples capable of running at 300 MHz.

• April 2, 1997 AMD announced 166-, 200-, and 233-MHz versions of its long-awaited K6 CPU today, a competitor to Intel's forthcoming Pentium II and Pentium 233-MMX processors.
• Microsoft buys WebTV for US$425 million.

• Intel launched (May 7, 1997) its new Pentium II processor.
• Pentium II (image).
• Exponential Technologies, the maker of high-performance processors slated for Macintosh computers, is closing its PowerPC operations. Announcement that the company was laying off 25 percent of its workforce and only days after Apple Computer (AAPL) executives said they will not use Exponential's X704 processor in any systems for the foreseeable future.
• Digital Equipment files a lawsuit against Intel, claiming infringement of 10 Digital Equipment patents in Intel's Pentium Pro and Pentium II processors.

• Netscape release internet communicator 4.0.
• Steve Jobs sells 1.5 million shares of Apple Computer stock, that he received in December as part of Apple Computer's purchase of his NeXT Software.
• Microsoft invests US$1 billion in ComCast, a venture to provide speedy web access via cable lines.
• Compaq Computer buys Tandem Computers for US$3 billion.

• Apple Computer Introduces OS/8
• Gilbert Amelio resigns as president, CEO, and chairman of Apple Computers.

• Microsoft invest $150,000,000.00 US  in Apple Computer Microsoft also agreed that when it makes major software releases in the  future, it will release both Windows and Macintosh versions of the products simultaneously Microsoft also agreed by the end of this year to issue a Macintosh version of its Office 98 software and committed to release Macintosh versions of Office for the next 5 years. In exchange, Apple will make Microsoft's Internet Explorer the default Internet browser on its computers.
• Motorola announces the StarMax 6000 Macintosh-compatible system.

• Microsoft Corp. released InternetExplorer 4.0 software.
• Next-Generation Internet. In a move that could cast shadows on the next-generation Internet 2, both houses of Congress have voted to slash fiscal 1998 funding for the project.(The House voted for $78 million and the Senate for only $35 million). Just as the current Internet once was, the Internet 2 is initially targeted to serve universities and research institutions that need a higher-speed, less trafficked, and more capable version of the Internet. As Internet usage has skyrocketed to include far more people than those at such organizations, the need for a smaller-scale, research-focused, private Internet has increased. Over 100 organizations and the U.S. government are financially backing the Internet 2’s construction.
• Quote by Aberdeen Group Inc.'s research analyst Mark Peabody: "The only influence Netscape has is with the web heads who are coding at 2 o-clock in the morning with 10 Cokes in front of them.".
• Steve Jobs is named interim CEO of Apple Computer.

• SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 9, 1997 -- Intel Corporation announced today that the first member of its new family of 64-bit microprocessors, code named Merced™, is scheduled for production in 1999. The processor will be produced on Intel’s 0.18 micron process technology, which is currently under development. The Merced processor will extend the Intel Architecture with new levels of performance and features for servers and workstations. Merced processors will run all the software that currently operates on 32-bit Intel processor-based machines.
• Apple Power Mac 6500 is released. A 300-MHz 603e processor, a 50-MHz system bus, and 512 KB of L2 cache clocked at 50 MHz.. It's 64 MB of RAM. For storage, it has 5-GB hard drive, a 12X SCSI CD-ROM drive, and a 100-MB Iomega Zip drive. A 33.6-Kbps modem. Video is ATI 3D Rage II+. All that for $3000.00 US.
• Motorola exits from the Macintosh-compatible market.
• Intel and Digital Equipment settle their lawsuits with a ten-year patent license agreement, among other things.
• The U.S. justice department asks a federal court to hold Microsoft in contempt because it may be forcing PC makers to distribute Internet Explorer as a condition of selling Windows 95.

• On November 10, IBM announced the world's highest capacity desktop PC disk drive with new breakthrough technology called Giant Magnetoresistive (GMR) heads. Pioneered by scientists at IBM Research, GMR heads will be used in IBM's new Deskstar 16GP, a 16.8-gigabyte drive that holds eight times more information than today's average desktop hard drive. The new drive can hold 8 hours of full-motion video (MPEG-2 quality video) or information that when printed fills more than 16 pickup trucks. No bigger than the head of a pin, the GMR head is a major advancement over the previous technology called a magnetoresistive head. The GMR head is the world's most sensitive sensor for reading computer data on hard drive products. With it, Deskstar 16GP brings high-powered workstation capacity and performance to the average desktop PC user.
• Seagate Technology ships its 100 millionth disc drive, a Seagate Medalist 2.5 GB 3.5-inch hard drive. The drive is presented to the Tech Museum of Innovation in California.
• Sun Microsystems takes legal action against Microsoft for shipping Internet Explorer 4.0 with a non-standard implementation of Java.

• U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson stunned the industry by ruling that software giant Microsoft must license its Windows 95 operating system to PC makers without requiring them to also take the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.

1998

• Jan. 26, 1998--Intel Corporation introduced the 333 MHz Pentium II processor. The 333 MHz processor is also the first Pentium II processor built on Intel's advanced 0.25 micron process technology.

• February 4, IBM researchers announced they have demonstrated the world's first experimental CMOS microprocessor that can operate at one billion cycles per second (1000 MHz or 1 GHz).
• IBM fellow Dr. Mark E. Dean holds an experimental 1000 MHz CMOS microprocessor. (image)
• A standard for 56-Kbps modems is approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The V.90 standard resolves the battle between the two competing 56 Kbps technologies -- X2 from 3COM and K56flex from Rockwell Semiconductor. Both manufacturers have announced that their future modems will conform to V.90.

• Intel introduced the Pentium II 350MHz and 400Mhz. and also the Celeron, the first to support a 100 megahertz internal PC bus.

• Apple Computer unveiled a $1, 299 Jetson-like computer aimed at consumers called the iMac, it's an all-in-one system, with only an external keyboard, and a built-in 15-inch monitor. The computer,  has a 233 megahertz PowerPC chip and comes with 32 megabytes of memory, a 4-gigabyte hard drive, a built-in CD-ROM drive and built-in speakers. It does not have a floppy drive. It comes in a dual-toned aqua and clear plastic enclosure, with a carrying handle at the top, much like the old Macs.
• May 18, 1998 -- Attorneys General from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed an antitrust lawsuit today in Washington, D.C., alleging that the Microsoft Corporation illegally stifled competition, harmed consumers, and undercut innovation in the computer software industry.The States asked the Court to conduct a hearing and then issue a preliminary injunction ordering Microsoft to provide its Windows 98 operating system either with no browser, or with alternative browsers -- so that computer manufacturers and consumers could freely select the browser of their choice.

[1926-1970][1971-1976][1977-1980][1981-1983][1984-1986][1987-1990][1991-1993][1994-1996][1997-1998]