Information Technology Industry TimeLine

-1944 1945-1963 1964-1974 1975-1994 1995-

The next two decades are marked by a new revolution: the advent of microprocessor that penetrates initially the world of calculators and watches, wiping out old companies, that were stuck into obsolete technologies. Then, the birth personal computer changed almost everything. PC invaded the server market. PC manufacturing became subcontracted to countries like Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, decreasing workforce of "main" companies.
Korea and Taiwan entered successively the IT field by an important effort of the private sector helped by government advantages (protection against imports, subsidies, advantageous financial loans...). Malaysia succeed to attract foreign (European, Japanese and American) manufacturing investments. Continental China joined the fray during the 1990s.
For some time in the early 1980s, the American IT industry, or at least a part of it, went dreaming that the Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (nicknamed StarWars) could help the industry as much as SAGE had done during the 1950s. This hope faded quite quickly, and when USA went at war against Iraq in 1990, the defense agencies rushed to find GPS or lap-top PCs produced for the civil market.
Europe, with the exception of telecommunications during that period, started a slow but perhaps irreversal decline in design and manufacturing IT devices. It had a few software companies in Germany and in Netherlands that kept challenging American software industry in a few niches. Much of European and Japanese money was spent in the acquisition of fledging American and European companies.

In the traditional computer market, batch applications had given place to on-line applications using data communications and marking the integration of two branches of the information technology industry. That period was marked by the growth of a few software houses (Microsoft, Oracle, Computer Associates) that grew from the market size increase and also by acquisitions. Another important fact of that period was a trend for business (large and small) to outsource their IT systems from companies like EDS or IBM (at the end of the period). This trend optimized the usage of large application servers and contributed to the loss of profitability of their manufacturers. In parallel, platforms that were targeted to support standard applications, such as Sun UNIX servers, grew progressively during the late 1980s and the 1990s.

Telecommunications that had been dominated by regulated PTT monopolies began to become deregulated and market driven as their computer counterpart.
Date

IBM 

other USA 

France 

rest of the world 
1 Jan 1975     merge of Gemini Computers System into Cap-Gemini-Sogeti  
Jan 1975 introduction of IBM System 32, derivate from System 3      
Jan 1975   introduction of MITS Micro Instruments and Telemetry Systems  Altair 8800 based on Intel 8080 with 256 Bytes of memory and S-100 bus    
Feb 1975   Paul Allen and Bill Gates license their BASIC interpreter to MITS for Altair microcomputer    
Feb 1975 formal termination of FS project      
1975   introduction of AMD Am-8080A and AMD 2900 bit slice microprocessor    
1975   Control Data and University of Illinois announces PLATO Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations    
Feb 1975   introduction of Digital LSI-11 microcomputer introduction of PDP-11/70    
1975     French government initiates a plan catching up with backwardness of French telephone network  
1975   Signetics Corporation semi-conductor manufacturer is acquired by ....   ... Philips
1975       introduction of Sony's 1/2 in Betamax video-recorder
1975   FCC authorizes customers to use their private telephones on Bell System    
1975 introduction of IBM 5100 desktop computer      
1975   invention by Whitfield  Diffie and Martin Hellman of a cryptographic key exchange protocol and of asymmetric encyphering    
1975   creation of Adventure game on PDP-10 by Crowther and Woods    
1975 introduction of IBM 3350 fixed disc storage, code named Madrid      
1975   Ivan Sutherland leaves E&S    
1975       delivery of AS-6 real-time multi-computer system designed by A Sokolov at ITMVT for aerospace applications
Mar 1975 introduction of IBM model 158-3 and 168-3      
Mar 1975   formation of Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park that will the cradle of personal computer    
1975   introduction of Tandem-16 fault tolerant system    
Apr 1975   incorporation of Micro-Soft    
1975       presentation by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) of VHS video tape recorder
May 1975   introduction of Honeywell Level 6 minicomputer    
12 May 1975     announcement of CII acquisition by Honeywell-Bull forming CII-HB , incorporated 1 Nov 1975  
1975     foundation of SEMS, a subsidiary of Thomson that acquires CII minicomputer business, not incorporated into CII-HB  
1975       first shipment of Siemens 7730 and 7750 (Unidata)
1975   foundation of Computer Associates by Charles Wang    
1975   release of EMACS by Richard Stallman at MIT    
Jun 1975   introduction of MC 6501 by MOS Technologies    
Jun 1975       first delivery of ICL 2980 (code-named P4)
1975     introduction of Solar minicomputer by Télémécanique  
Jun 1975   first delivery of Amdahl 470V6 at NASA Goddard SFC    
Jul 1975   ARPA merge into DCA Defense Communications Agency    
Jul 1975   settlement of suit between Xerox and FTC accusing Xerox of monopoly in copier    
1975   foundation of MPI Magnetic Peripheral Inc, by Control Data. Honeywell brings its tape and disc design and manufacturing business to MPI CII-HB takes a minority share in MPI, bringing its manufacturing plant of Heppenheim (Germany)  
1975   introduction of Unix V6 by Bell Labs of AT&T    
Nov 1975       introduction of Casiotron electronic watch
Dec 1975   creation of Zilog by Frederico Faggin (ex-Intel)    
Jan 1976   first delivery of MOS Tech 6502 microprocessor designed by Chuck Peddle (ex-Motorola)    
Jan 1976   introduction of DECSystem-20 36-bits computer release of TOPS-20 for DEC 36-bits systems    
Feb 1976 IBM ships VM/370 release 3      
Mar 1976   introduction of Intel 8085 at 5 MHz microprocessor , based on 3 µm technology (6500 transistors)    
Mar 1976       delivery of ICL 2960 (code-named P2L) and VME/K operating system
Mar 1976   Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak finished Apple I microcomputer based on MOS 6502    
1 Apr 1976   foundation of Apple by Jobs and Wozniak with Mike Markula    
18 Mar 1976       ICL acquires Singer Business Machines
1976     Thomson takes control of Téléphones Ericsson in France  
1976   foundation of US Robotics    
1976     first shipment of CII Unidata 7740 (code-named X2) manufactured by Thomson in Toulouse  
1976   introduction of Western Digital first floppy disk controller    
1976   development of UNIX UUCP (Unix to Unix Copy Program) at Bell Labs    
1976   development of CP/M operating system by Gary Kildall    
1976     Thomson takes control of Le Matériel Téléphonique (LMT)  
1976   signature of cross-licence agreement between Intel and AMD    
1976   FCC authorizes PBX Private Branch Exchanges connection to Bell System    
1976     DGT selects a spatial-switching system ITT/CGCT Metaconta E11 as a close-gap to be produced by CIT  
1976 introduction of 43FD dual side diskette      
May 1976   Honeywell buys Xerox Data Systems from Xerox    
1976       CCITT approves X-25 standard for packet switching
1976   creation of Computer Associates by Charles B Wang, in New-York City introducing CA Sort    
1976   delivery of Cray 1 by Cray Research at Los Alamos laboratory    
9 Jun 1976     acquisition of 60% of R2E by CII-HB  
Jun 1976 introduction of IBM 370 mod 135-3 and 138      
Jun 1976 first shipment of IBM 370/168-3      
Jun 1976   introduction of Wang WPS word-processor    
Jul 1976   introduction of Zilog Z80, a 2.5 MHz microprocessor, designed by Frederico Faggin    
1976       foundation of Inmos (UK)
1976   foundation of Caere, an OCR company, by Robert Noyce    
1976   AT&T installs its first digital switch    
Aug 1976   ICL of UK acquires ex-Singer Utica NY manufacturing plant    
1976   foundation of SAS Institute by John Sall & James Goodnight    
1976 John Cocke develops project 801 at IBM Research Yorktown Heights NY, the ancestor of RISC processors      
Sep 1976 first shipment of IBM 370/158-3      
1976   acquisition of MOS Technologies  by Commodore    
1976   delivery of Floating Point AP-120B array processor    
1976       CCITT standardizes Groupe 2 fac-simile standard, featuring 100 lpi
Oct 1976 introduction of IBM Series 1      
Oct 1976       introduction of video recorder VHS Video Home System  by JVC 
Nov 1976 first shipment of IBM 370/138      
Nov 1976   first micro-computer shop of Computerland at Hayward CA    
1976   Data General starts FountainHead Project in Triangle Park NC to compete with DEC Vax.  Competing with Eagle project, it will be terminated in 1979     
Dec1976   introduction of 5 1/4 in diskette by Shugart Associates (initially for Wang )    
Dec 1976   release of Electric Pencil wordprocessor written by Michael Schrayer    
1976   Commodore International reincorporate in Bahamas and install its R&D in Costa Mesa CA    
Jan 1977   introduction of Commodore PET Personal Electronic Transactor 2001 microcomputer based on 6502    
Mar 1977 introduction of IBM 3033 replacing 370/168      
Mar 1977   introduction of DEC PDP-11/60    
1977 introduction of IBM System 34      
Apr 1977   introduction of Apple II based on 6502, designed by Steve Wozniak    
1977       introduction of ES-1035 of GD Smirnov at Minsk
1977     introduction of SEMS Mitra 115 (gamme S)  
1977   Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Andleman invents the cryptography RSA function    
1977   foundation of Oracle Corp by Bob Miner and Larry Ellison under the name of Software Development Laboratories    
1977   creation of Zork, a text adventure game, by Blank, Daniels, Anderson and Lebling    
Apr 1977       introduction of DME emulators for ICL 1900 and System 4
1977   foundation of Solectron by Roy Kusumoto and Winston Chen, as a board subcontractor in the Silicon Valley    
1977     invention of splines by Pierre Bézier from Renault  
May 1977   acquisition of MIPS by Pertec    
1977 introduction of IBM 53FD dual side, dual density MFM      
Jul 1977   release of Microsoft Fortran on 8080 processors    
Aug 1977   introduction of Tandy/Radio-Shack TRS-80 based on Z80    
Oct 1977   introduction of Wang VS minicomputer    
Oct 1977   introduction of DEC VAX-11/780 32-bits minicomputer    
1977   introduction of Data General MicroNOVA    
1977   ITT's chairman Geneen steps down and is replaced by Lyman Hamilton    
1977       SAP transforms its name in " Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung".and moves to Walldorf
Oct 1977 introduction of IBM 3031 and 3032      
1977       production of ES-1060 top of ES line designed by YF Lomov manufactured in Moscow and Penza
Nov 1977       introduction of ICL 2950 (code named S1) and of a new small 2905 system
Feb 1978   Exxon QYX Intelligent Typewriter Systems introduces an electronic typewriter    
Feb 1978   release of VMS 1.0 for DEC VAX-11    
Feb 1978   Ward Christiansen and randy Suess create a first BBS named RCP/M    
Mar 1978   introduction of first BSD release of Unix by Bill Joy, at Berkeley    
1978 operation of System R relational data base at IBM San Jose, developed by M Chamberlin et al.
introduction of SQL language		      
Mar 1978   introduction of DECSystem 2020    
Apr 1978       introduction of ICL DAP Distributed Array Processor
1978     selection of ADA, designed by Jean Ichbiah and Olivier Roubine of CII-HB by US DoD  
1978   IPO of Culliname Corporation    
1978   introduction of Fast Shottky by Fairchild Semiconductors     
1978       Tokyo Shibaura Denki named officially Toshiba Corporation
1978   Rand Araskog becomes CEO of ITT and prepares divestitures    
1978       Epson introduces its first dot matrix printer used in Commodore PET
1978       Korea Semiconductor renamed  Samsung Semiconductors
1978   AMD establishes a new fab...   ... at Manila, Philippines
1978   Wayne Ratliff develops Vulcan database software at JPL    
1978   acquisition of Electronic Arrays, Inc by NEC in Roseville CA    
1978   introduction of Atari game console VCS 2600    
1978       introduction of ES-1055
Jun 1978   introduction of Intel 8086 at 4.77MHz (29000 transistors in 3 µm technology)    
Jun 1978   release of Microsoft Cobol    
Jun 1978       delivery of ICL 2950
Jun 1978       Olivetti introduces 401 Electronic Typewriter
1978     introduction of Transpac, an X-25 ISDN digital network  
1978       publication of OSI model by ISO International Standards Organization
1978   Robert Kahn, head of DARPA, initiates the VLSI program     
Jul 1978   operation of Advanced Mobile Phone Service AMPS on 800MHz band by AT&T and Illinois  Bell     
Jul 1978 first shipment of IBM S/38      
1978   release of Awk text processing language designed by Aho, Weinberger, and Kernighan -on Unix    
1978   release of specs of Fortran 1977    
1978   publication of cryptographic RSA algorithm by Ron Rivest, Ali Shamir and  Leonard Adelmann    
1978     introduction of Logabax LX-500 based on Z-80 Carlo De Benedetti named CEO of Olivetti
1978       first electronic typewriter by Olivetti
24 Oct 1978 announcement of IBM System 38 designed at Rochester MN, under Frank Solti      
Dec 1978       introduction of Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer
1978   acquisition of Incoterm by Honeywell    
Dec 1978   introduction of Atari 400 and 800 microcomputers using 6502 chip    
Jan 1979   installation of Microsoft at Seattle from Albuquerque    
31 Jan 1979 introduction of IBM series 4331 and 4341      
31 Jan 1979   release of Flight Simulator I on Apple II by Bruce Artwick    
jan 1979     Bull concludes an agreement to market CPT wordprocessors machines  
1979       creation of INMOS by the British government
1979   release of Lunar Lander by Atari    
May 1979   demonstration of Visicalc spreadsheet software by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston    
Jun 1979   introduction of Apple II Plus    
Jun 1979   creation of 3Com by Bob Metcalfe (ex-Xerox PARC)    
1979       introduction of HISI DPS-4, a successor of Level 62, by Honeywell
1979   introduction of HEP Denelcor supercomputer    
1979   release of Asteroids by Atari    
1979 introduction of DOS/VSE by IBM      
1979       introduction of Walkman mobile audio-playing cassette by Sony
1979   Allied Chemicals becomes Allied Corp with Edward Hennessy Jr as CEO    
1979 John Cocke, at IBM Research, develops 801 project, one of the first RISC processor      
1979       introduction of ES-1045 designed by AT Kuchukyan at Erevan
1979     CII-HB signs a MoU to acquire Hermes-Olympia from the German AEG
CGE and Honeywell disapprove such an agreement		  
1979   John deButts retires from AT&T CEO and is replaced by Charles L. Brown    
1979       release of R/2 system by SAP
Jun 1979   introduction of Intel 8088 at 4.77 MHz, it will be selected as the heart of IBM PC and of its clones    
1979   first operation of Compuserve    
Jun 1979   introduction of Texas Instruments TI-99/4 microcomputer using TI 9940 processor    
1979       introduction of NEC PC8001 personal computer in Japan
1979   foundation of Infocom by Vezza that markets Zork and other games    
1979 introduction of IBM 3370 fixed disc storage      
1979   AMD establishes a fab at Austin TX    
1979   Hewlett-Packard introduces programmable hand-held calculator HP-41C    
1979   operation of Usenet at UNC and Duke University, developed by Tom Truscott and Steve Bellovin    
1979       the British Post Office introduces Prestel videotex service
1979   release of Modula-2 programming language at Xerox PARC    
1979   creation of EMC² by founded by Richard J. Egan (ex-Intel) and Roger Marino     
1979     introduction of 61-DPS small computer by Bull based on Datapoint 1800 running most of the OS and CRP native application processor  
Jun 1979   release of Micropro Wordstar word processor written by Bob Barnaby on Z-80 processors    
1979   creation of Seagate Technology by Alan Shugart and Finis Conner (ex-IBMers)    
1979       creation of INMARSAT a international organization for maritime communications, 
privatized in April 1999 
1979     establishment of a fiber optic experimental network in Biarritz by DGT  
1979   Fairchild is acquired by Schlumberger, avoiding  a take-over by Fujitsu    
1979     introduction by CII-HB and by Honeywell of Distributed Systems Architecture (DSA)  
1979 IBM develops thin-film recording heads for magnetic discs      
1979       introduction by Philips of Video 2000 video tape recorder format, terminated in 1986
Sep 1979   introduction of Motorola MC68000microprocessor with 68000 transistors    
24 Sep 1979     CGE transfers to Saint-Gobain its minority ownership in CII-HB  
Sep 1979       introduction of Prestel Viewdata service in the UK
1979 Benoit Mandelbrot discovers the Mandelbrot set in fractals      
Oct 1979   introduction of Honeywell DPS-8    
Oct 1979       foundation of Tangerine  by Paul Johnson and Barry Muncaster, producing Microtan 65 computer
~1979   foundation of Relational Technology Inc (later Ingres Corporation) by Michael Stonebraker (from UC Berkeley) producing Ingres database system    
1979 ?   Xerox acquires Shugart Associates    
1979   release of Microsoft Z80 Softcard on Apple II, to use CP/M software    
17 Oct 1979   release of Visicalc on Apple II    
Dec 1979   release of Berkeley 3BSD release of Unix    
1980   incorporation of ACSYS (later Trilogy Ltd), managed by Gene and Carl Amdahl with support of DEC and Groupe Bull Groupe Bull participation in Trilogy was 7%  
1980   death of John W Mauchly, at 73    
Jan 1980       introduction of Casiotone electronic musical instrument
1980   foundation of Activision by Atari programmers    
1980     experimental use of Minitel for French telephone directory in Brittany  
Feb 1980   release of DECNet Phase III    
Mar 1980       introduction of ICML ME629 based on Palyn's EMMY
1980 introduction of IBM 3081 series based on TCM technology      
1980   creation of Battlezone tank simulation 3D game by Atari    
1980       operation of Elbrus1 designed since the early 1970s at ITMVT Moscow
1980   foundation of Teradata, spun-off from Citybank    
1980     creation by DGT of France Câbles Radio  
1980   foundation of Symbolics by Russel Noftsker ,  Jack Holloway (ex-MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab)    
1980       merge of Decca Navigator System and Racal
1980   foundation of Informix by Roger Sippl    
1980       foundation by David Potter of Psion plc
1980   Robert Price named president and COO replacing William Norris staying chairman and CEO    
1980   release of Smalltalk-80 at Xerox PARC    
1980   foundation of Stratus    
1980       introduction of NEC ACOS-6 ACOS-1000to be marketed by Honeywell in 1984 
18 Apr1980     Saint-Gobain acquires a 22.3% participation in Olivetti  
1980       release of PacMan game by Namco, designed by Toru Iwantani and programmed by Hideyuki Mokajima
29 Apr 1980   introduction of Data General Eclipse MV/8000 code named Eagle, in design since April 1978 by Carl Alsing Steve Wallach and Ed Rasala., under Tom West    
1980       introduction of compact disc by Sony and Philips
1980       CCITT standardizes Group 3 fax standard, upward compatible with Group 2, and featuring 11400 bps
May 1980   deceiving introduction of Apple III based on 6502    
May 1980       introduction of Fujitsu OASYS 100 wordprocessor
1980   foundation of LSI Logic by W Corrigan (ex-Fairchild)    
Jun 1980   Steve Balmer joins Microsoft    
Jun 1980   introduction by Segate of a 5 MB disk for microcomputers    
Jul 1980 first shipment of IBM System 38      
Jul 1980       Pasquale Pistorio (ex-Motorola) is named CEO of Italian semiconductor company SGS Group
1980       introduction of 3 1/2 in floppy disk by Sony.
Aug 1980 visit of Jack Sams to Microsoft      
Aug 1980   creation of Software Plus by Hal Lashlee and George Tate
Software Plus will become soon Ashton-Tate 		    
1980   introduction of Control Data Star under the name of Cyber 205    
1980   creation of DBase II by Wayne Ratcliff    
1980     foundation of Ingenico by Jean-Jacques Poutrel  
1980       introduction of Sinclair ZX-80 designed by Jim Westwood
1980   acquisition of SDC by Burroughs    
25 Aug 1980   introduction of first version of Xenix by Microsoft & SCO    
1980       introduction of NEC 256Kb DRAM
Sep 1980   release of PFS:File by Software Publishing    
Oct 1980   introduction of DEC VAX 11/750    
Oct 1980       introduction of Honeywell Italia DPS-4, code named Gemini
1980   foundation of Apollo by Bill Poduska (ex-Prime's founder and  CEO) at Chelmsford MA    
Oct 1980   release of 4BSD UNIX system by Bill Joy at Bekeley    
1980   DoD launches the VHSIC Very High Sped Integrated Circuits program    
Oct 1980   introduction of Hayes 300Bds modem    
Oct 1980   acquisition of Seattle SCP-DOS by Microsoft, leading to IBM PC-DOS    
Nov 1980       development of Maple , algebraic language, at Waterloo University , ONT Canada, by Keith Geddes and Gaston Gonett
Nov 1980 agreement between IBM and Microsoft about DOS on IBM PC      
Dec 1980     first shipment of CII-HB DPS-7 x5 code named Taurus  
1980   release of Ultima graphics game for Apple II by California Pacific    
Dec 1980   IPO of Apple    
Jan 1981   introduction of Commodore Vic-20 based on 6502    
Jan 1981   release of dBase  by Ashton Tate    
1981       incorporation of Logitech
1981       beginning of Japanese Fifth Generation Computer System project focusing on artificial intelligence and proposing to be built around Prolog language
not supported by the computer industry, the project was terminated in the mid-1980s 
1981       release of Donkey Kong by Nintendo
1981   acquisition of GTE Sylvania TV business by Philips    
Feb 1981 operation of Microsoft DOS on IBM PC prototype      
Feb 1981   first lay-off (40p) at Apple    
1981   introduction of Apollo DN100 work-station    
Mar 1981   introduction of Osborne portable computer in a suitcase    
Mar 1981   Steve Jobs named chairman of Apple    
1981       creation of Multitech Industrial Corporation in Taiwan by Stan Shih to produce MicroProfessor MFP-1 a home learning microcomputer
Mar 1981       introduction of Sinclair ZX-81
24 Mar 1981       acquisition of Correlative Systems International (Belgium) by CII-HB
1981       invention of scanning tunneling microscope at IBM Zurich laboratory by Gerd K. Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer,
1981     IBM agrees to market Dassault Systems' CATIA CAD system  
Apr 1981   introduction of Xerox Star workstation designed at PARC    
Apr 1981   Jack Welch becomes CEO of General Electric replacing Reginald Jones. He will stay until 2001    
1981       introduction of NEC V20 and V30 microprocessors
1981   foundation of Adaptec by Larry Boucher (from Shugart Associates)    
1981       introduction of BBC Minicomputer by Acorn (UK)
1981   creation of Centipede by Donna Bailey at Atari    
8 May 1981       Robb Wilmot named COO of ICL
May 1981 first flight of Space Shuttle equipped of IBM AP-101 computers      
May 1981       introduction of Fujitsu FM-8 personal computer
27 May 1981   death of Roger Wheeler chairman of Telex, shot in golf course. He will be replaced by Stephen Jatras    
Jun 1981     acquisition of Logabax by Olivetti  
Jun 1981       ICL announced Singer System Ten as ICL System 25
Jun 1981   release of UNIX 4.1 BSD at Berkeley under DARPA contract    
1981     first shipment of CII-HB DPS-7-80 code named Leo  
3 Jul 1981     Revocation of Jean-Pierre Brulé, CII-HB CEO  
1981       release of Frogger game by Sega
1981   Allied Corp acquires Bendix Corp    
1981     first fiber optic network trials by DGT  in Biarritz  
9 Jul 1981     inauguration of first Télétel (Minitel) server at Velizy  
12 Aug 1981 introduction of IBM 5150 Personal Computer, based on Intel 8088 and Microsoft PC-DOS operating system. 
The project Chess was headed by Philip Estridge 		      
Sep 1981       ICL acquires a license for Three Rivers Computer for Percq
Sep 1981       termination of ICL's VME/K operating system for 2900 line
1981   Computer Associates CA-Scheduler for IBM DOS/VSE    
1981     merge between Thomson-CSF and Thomson-Brandt under Jean-Pierre Bouyssonnie as CEO  
1981   establishment by Flextronics...   ... of a plant in Singapore
1981   copyrighted computer code declared legal in Tandy vs. Personal Computer judgment    
1981   AMD establishes a fab at San Antonio TX    
1981       introduction of 3 1/2 in diskette by Sony
1981   foundation of Weitek by ex-Intel designers to create mathematic coprocessors    
7 Oct 1981       cooperation agreement between ICL and Fujitsu: Estriel will be manufactured by Fujitsu for ICL and ICL will market Fujitsu Atlas 10 mainframe IBM compatible
Oct 1981   introduction of Control Data Cyber 170-800    
Oct 1981       introduction of Sharp hand-held calculator programmable in BASIC
1981   first platform game "space panic" produced    
1981   acquisition of Memorex by Burroughs    
1981       foundation of Softbank by Masayoshi Son in Tokyo
Oct 1981 introduction of IBM System/370 XA extended architecture      
Oct 1981       introduction of ICL Networked Product Line including DRS-20 (evolved from Singer 1500) and One per Desk terminal 
Oct 1981 introduction of IBM VM High Performance Option (HPO)      
Nov 1981       privatization of Cable & Wireless, Lord Young of Graffam is named chairman  replacing Lord Eric Sharp
1981 release of IBM PROFS word processing system under VM, PROFS was developed as a RPQ for Amoco      
Dec 1981   delivery of Intel 8087 math coprocessor    
Dec 1981       introduction of Fujitsu FACOM M-380/382 large computer
8 Jan 1982   AT&T and the DOJ sign consent decree settling case by divesting AT&T of its local telephone companies. Judge Green issues the Modified Final Judgment (MFJ).    
Jan 1982   introduction of Commodore CBM 64 based on 6502    
18 Jan 1982 U.S. government drops 13 year anti-trust case against IBM      
20 jan 1982       introduction by Sony, Hitachi, JVC, Matsushita et Philips of a 8mm cassette format for video recording. This format will also be used for data recording
Jan 1982   Introduction of Intel iAPX432 a multi-chip processor with object oriented architecture    
Feb 1982   incorporation of Sun Microsystems founded by Andy Bechtolsheim, Vinod Khosla, and Scott McNealy    
Feb 1982   Personal Software, Visicalc's editor, is renamed Visicorp    
1982   foundation of Electronic Arts by Trip Hawkins (ex-Apple) for building games on Apple II and Commodore 64    
Feb 1982     nationalization of Thomson. Alain Gomez named CEO  
Feb 1982   introduction of Intel 80286 at 6 MHz, with 134,000 transistors (1.5µm technology)    
1982       trellis-coded modulation (TCM) is invented at IBM Zurich laboratory
Mar 1982     publication of Abel Farnoux report on "filière électronique"  
Mar 1982   introduction of Microsoft MS-DOS v2.0    
1982   Timex introduces Sinclair ZX-81 in the U.S. as TMS-1000   Timex was already manufacturing ZX-81 for Sinclair in Scotland
1982     introduction of Chorus micro-kernel on SM-90 architecture by INRIA  
1982   acquisition of Flextronics by Bob Todd    
1982   University of Berkeley developed RISC-I processor under David Patterson    
1982   introduction of Intel 186 microprocessor    
1982       introduction of NEC PC-9800 microcomputers
1982   introduction of DSP digital signal processing by Texas Instruments    
 Apr 1982   foundation of Lotus Development Corporation by Mitch Kapor    
1982       CAFS storage system delivered on ICL 2900
Apr 1982   introduction of DEC VAX-11/730    
1982   creation of Alliant by Ron Gruner (ex-DG)    
1982   creation of Compaq by Rod Canyon    
1982   introduction of Cray XMP supercomputer    
1982     Thomson acquires the German Dual manufacturing consumer electronics  
1982       Mercury Communications Ltd, a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, becomes the other telephone company in UK
1982   foundation of Silicon Graphics (SGI) by Jim Clark, professor at Stanford University    
Apr 1982       incorporation of Oric Computers in the UK
28 Apr 1982     Jacques Stern from SESA is named CEO of nationalized Groupe Bull replacing Maxime Bonnet  
1982   Ian Murphy (Captain Zap) penetrates AT&T computers to change low-price hours clock from late-night to midday    
May 1982       introduction of Fujitsu made Atlas 10 by ICL with Tangerine as their RéD arm
1982   Motorola acquires Four-Phase computers    
1982   foundation of Convex    
May 1982   introduction of DEC Rainbow personal computer delivered early 1983    
May 1982   release of DEC All-in-One office automation software    
1982     CGIP becomes the first shareholder of Cap-Gemini-Sogeti  
1982   foundation of Sun Microsystems by Scott McNealy.
Bill Joy responsible of BSD at Berkely joins Sun		    
Jun 1982 release of PC/DOS 1.1 also named MS-DOS 1.25    
1982     Cap Gemini Sogeti acquisition of 35% of SESA  
Jun 1982   first IBM PC clone by Columbia Data Products    
1982   introduction of AutoCAD by Autodesk    
Jul 1982       Fujitsu introduces FACOM VP-100/200 supercomputer
1982       introduction of Sinclair Spectrum designed by Richard Altwasser
1982       Olivetti introduces its first personal computer
1982   development of Postscript by John Warnock; foundation of Adobe by Warnock and Charles Geshke    
Aug 1982   release of Microsoft Multiplan spreadsheet on 6502 microprocessor    
13 Sep 1982     André Truong Truong Thi leaves R2E  
Sep 1982     Thomson introduces TO7 family microcomputer based on 6809 microprocessor  
Oct 1982   introduction of Honeywell DPS-88    
Nov 1982  reverse engineering of BIOS authorized in IBM vs. Compaq introduction of Compaq Portable PC with 8088    
Nov 1982 release of Flight Simulator 2 on IBM PC by Microsoft      
Nov 1982   release of Wordperfect on IBM PC    
20 Dec 1982     incorporation of SEMS minicomputer company in Groupe Bull  
Dec 1982   introduction of AutoCAD version 1 by Autodesk, formerly Marinchip Systems by John Walker on CP/M    
1 Jan 1983   introduction of TCP/IP protocol on Internet replacing NCP     
Jan 1983   introduction of spreadsheet program 1-2-3 by Lotus, developed by Mitch Kapor and Jonathan Sachs on IBM PC    
1983   introduction of Apple Lisa    
Jan 1983       announcement of Microsoft MSX software for Japanese microcomputers
Jan 1983   establishment of Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, for cooperative research    
27 Jan 1983       production of Oric1 based on 6502
1983       design of Advanced RISC machine by Acorn
1983   US Government launches Strategic Defense Inititiative (SDI)    
1983   introduction of Commodore SX-64 portable color computer    
1983   DoD establishes ADA as the implementation language for embedded computers. 
USAF complied for airborne systems in new airplanes 		    
1983   Raytheon introduces gallium-arsenide monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC)    
Feb1983 introduction of IBM VM/SP release 3, featuring REXX language      
8 Feb 1983 IBM announces the Object Code Only policy on all its products, including VM      
2 Mar 1983     incorporation of CGE Transac-Alcatel inside Groupe Bull  
Mar 1983 introduction of IBM PC/XT with 10MB hard disk Microsoft releases DOS 2.0    
1983   foundation of Thinking Machines Corporation by Hillis, Minsky et al    
Apr 1983     Thomson and JVC group announce an agreement for licensing VHS VTR  
Apr 1983   John Sculley (ex-Pepsi-Cola) named CEO of Apple    
2 May 1983   creation of Borland International by Philippe Kahn,     
May 1983 introduction of IBM System 36      
1983       Samsung Semiconductors opens a plant at Kiheung to produce 64Kb DRAM
May 1983   introduction of DEC VAX clusters    
1983   introduction of Apple//E    
1983       introduction of Nintendo Famicom game computer
1983     introduction of Minitel by DGT  
Jun 1983     foundation of Infogrammes a video-game editor company by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sape  
Jul 1983   DoD splits MILNET off of ARPANET, leaving 68 nodes on ARPANET and 45 on MILNET, the military network    
1983     integration of Thomson DAP department in Bull, bringing a CTOS license from Convergent Technology  
1983   foundation of Novell by Raymond J Noorda at Provo UT, introducing Netware, an operating system for local area networks    
Aug 1983   release of 4.2BSD by Berkeley    
1 Sep 1983       formation in Munchen of ECRC a research center common to Siemens, Bull, and ICL
Sep 1983   ETA, a spin-off by Control Data, begin operation lead by Lloyd Thorndyke and Neil Lincoln    
Sep 1983   foundation of LDDC, soon renamed LDDS Long Distance Discount Service by Murray Waldrun and William Rector    
1983       creation of ABC Bull, a Brazilian joint venture building Bull DPS-7 for local market
1983   departure of Paul Allen from Microsoft    
31 Oct 1983       cession of Bull's shares in Olivetti. Olivetti signs an alliance with AT&T
Oct 1983 disclosure of IBM token-ring local area network      
1983       production of ES-1036 of RM Astsaturov
1983   introduction of MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface    
1983   departure of Gordon Bell from DEC    
1983 introduction of System/370 Extended Architecture with 31-bits virtual address      
1983   creation of C++ programming language by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs    
1983   Culliname renamed Cullinet Software    
Oct 1983     foundation of Copernique, a storage systems company, by François Michel ex-COO of Bull-Sems  
1983       introduction by NEC of SX-1 and SX-2 supercomputers
1983   Mitch Kapor resigns from Lotus and is replaced by Jim Manzi    
1983   introduction of Andrew window manager at Carnegie-Mellon    
1983       introduction of CDROM jointly by Philips & Sony
1983     Matra-Hachette introduces Alice, a family microcomputer based on Motorola 6803 microprocessor  
Nov 1983   introduction of Microsoft Windows    
Nov 1983   introduction of Philippe Kahn of Borland's TurboPascal, selling for $49    
Nov 1983   Internet introduces DNS Domain Name System designed by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris, and Craig Partridge    
Nov 1983   beginning of operations of LDDS in Mississipi    
15 Nov 1983   introduction of Microsoft Word designed by Charles Simonyi & Richard Brodie    
1983   introduction of NS 16032 microprocessor    
1983     CGE acquires Thomson Télécommunications telephone assets and consolidates its assets in Alcatel-Thomson  
1 Jan 1984   end of Bell system divestiture process. Disappearance of Western Electric.    
Jan 1984     introduction of Bull Micral 90-20  
16 Jan 1984       introduction of Oric Atmos
22 Jan 1984   introduction of Apple MacIntosh, based on MC68000 8MHz introduction of Apple Lisa 2    
Jan 1984   resignation of Jack Tramiel as Commodore CEO replaced by Irving Gould    
Jan 1984   decommissioning of the SAGE network    
1984       acquisition of ICL by STC for 400M£
1984     Georges Pébereau named CEO of CGE  
1984   introduction of Sun NFS network file system    
1984       acquisition of Grundig consumer electronics manufacturer by Philips
In 1983 a Thomson-Grundig agreement was denied by the German government 
1984       introduction of Psion organizer
1984   introduction of Apple //c portable computer    
1984       introduction of ES-1046 by Kuchukyan manufactured  in Erevan and Kazan
1984   introduction of Western Digital PC/AT disk controller board    
1984     creation of Simulog from INRIA, a software house operating initially in CAE computer-aided engineering  
1984       introduction of ES-1066 and 1068 designed by Lomov manufactured in Moscow and Penza
1984     introduction of BM30 compatible PC by Bull.   
1984   introduction of X-Windows on UNIX at MIT    
Mar 1984 introduction of IBM PCJr with DOS 2.1      
12 Apr 1984       British Telecom established a plc company, first step to privatization creation of Oftel telecommunications regulation agency 
1984       operation of Elbrus 2 at ITMVT
1984   Computer Associates introduces CA-Universe on IBM MVS,VSE and VM/370    
Apr1984     Ridge 32 computers will be sold as Bull SPS-9  
Apr 1984   introduction of DEC VAX-11/785    
Apr 1984   introductionof Apple IIc, portable computer based on 65c02 at 1.4MHz    
1984       introduction of NEC chips V20 and V30
1984   creation of Dell Computer Corporation by Michael Dell to assemble PC.    
1984   foundation of Cirus Logic by Patil    
May 1984   introduction of Microsoft Project    
19 Jun 1984     Groupe Bull embarks in ISIS military supercomputer project
terminated in 1986 		  
Jun 1984   release of ULTRIX-32 a UNIX by DEC for VAX    
Jun 1984   release of Ashton-Tate dBase III    
27 Jun 1984   acquisition of EDS by General Motors for $2.5B, the merger with GM EDP activities occurred in October 1984    
1984       introduction of first Psion Organizer I
1984     Thomson introduces MO5 family microcomputer based on 6809 microprocessor  
1984       foundation of X-Open Group under European Commission auspices by Bull, Siemens, Nixdorf and Olivetti
1984   NSF initiates National Centers for Supercomputing Applications    
Aug 1984 introduction of IBM PC/AT based on Intel 286, featuring VGA graphics      
Aug 1984   acquisition of Visi-On by Control Data    
Sep 1984     introduction of Bull DPS-7 new models code-named Lyra  
1984   Tom Vanderslice (ex-GTE, ex-GE) named CEO of Apollo, replacing Bill Poduska    
Sep 1984 introduction of IBM 4361-3      
Sep 1984   introduction of Apple Fat Mac with 512KB    
10 Sep 1984       STC acquires 81.4% of ICL
1984   introduction of MC68020 by Motorola, featuring 200,000 transistors    
Oct 1984   introduction of DEC VAX-8600 introduction of VAX-Station 1    
1984   Jack Tramiel is fired from Commodore and buys Atari from Warner    
1984   Divestiture of AT&T into long distance & development companies (AT&T, and futureLucent) and 7 regional RBOC regional Bell operating companies  "Baby Bells":    
Nov 1984       flotation of 50.2% of British Telecom
Oct 1984   announcement of GEM graphic interface by Digital Research, sued by Apple    
1984 IBM acquires Rolm Corporation.      
1984       introduction of 256Kbit DRAM by NEC
1984   foundation of Bellcore by the Baby Bells replacing Bell Labs for them    
1984   agreements between NEC and Honeywell to distribute NEC ACOS 1000 as DPS-90 agreement between NEC and Honeywell is extended to Groupe Bull  
1984       first Transputer by Inmos (UK)
1984       introduction of Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap) based on MC68008
Dec 1984     introduction of CNET designed SM-90 as Bull SPS-7  
1984   introduction of Borland's Sidekick a personal organizer program    
10 Dec 1984   creation of Cisco by Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner    
Feb 1985 introduction of IBM 3090 code-named Sierra with Extended Architecture S/370 XA      
1985   introduction of R-2000 RISC processor by MIPS    
1985   Trilogy acquisition of Elxsi    
1985   foundation of Stellar by Bill Poduska (ex-Apollo)    
1985     merge of CIT-Alcatel and Thomson Télécommunications into Alcatel    
1985   first delivery of Encore Multimax computer    
Mar 1985   introduction of Honeywell DPS-90 a version of NEC ACOS1000 running under GCOS8 operating system    
1985   introduction of Commodore 128    
1985   introduction of Aldus PageMaker, a publishing program initially for MacIntosh developed by Paul Brainerd 1985  
May 1985   Steve Jobs attempts a coup to remove Sculley that is denied by the board of Apple.
Steve Jobs resigned.		    
1985   Lotus buys Personal Software and rights to Visicalc    
1985       introduction of first NEC CRT display Multisync
1985   Hewlett-Packard introduces LaserJet printer    
1985   Microsoft introduces MSDOS 3.2 supporting 3"1/2 diskettes    
1985     introduction of Thomson TO8 family computer based on Motorola 6809  
1985   Microsoft introduces QuickBasic for DOS3.2    
1985       IBM Zurich laboratory develops token-ring local network
1985   Allied Corp and Signal Companies merge into Allied Signal    
Apr 1985       introduction of Fujitsu FACOM M780 large computer
1985   release of Carmen San Diego, an educational game by Broderbund    
Apr 1985       introduction of ICL systems 39 level 30 (DM/1 alias S1L) and level 80 (Estriel alias S3L) DM/1 was Fujitsu CMOS technology, while Estriel was ECL.
1985   foundation of Chips & Technologies by Gordon Campbell and Dado Bantao    
May 1985   introduction of MicroVAX II using DEC single chip MicroVAX    
1985     GFI is acquired by... ... the British company SD-Scion
1985       introduction of Maple by University of Waterloo, Canada
Jul 1985   introduction of Amiga 1000, produced later by Commodore, based on MC68000    
1985   foundation of Cirrus Logic    
1985 termination of Fort-Knox project      
1985     termination of first attempt by Bull to build a single-chip code named Altair processor on GCOS7 architecture  
Sep 1985   Steve Jobs dismissed from Apple CEO, replaced by John Sculley    
Sep 1985     adoption of smartcard (with microprocessor) by GIE Cartes Bancaires regrouping French Banks  
1985   Bernie Ebbers is named CEO of LDDS    
1985   termination of MULTICS program by Honeywell and assignment of maintennace to Univesity of Calgary, Canada    
1985   introduction of PageMaker published by Paul Brainard on PC and MacIntosh    
1985       introduction of Oberon programming language at ETH Zurich by Wirth and Jürg Gutknecht
Oct 1985   introduction of Intel 386 (later qualified DX) processor with 275,000 transistors    
1985   foundation of MIT's Media Lab by Weisner and Nicholas Negroponte    
Nov 1985     introduction of Radiocom 2000 an analog cellphone network by DGT  
1985       Sony renounces to the Betamax VTR format
Nov 1985   release of Microsoft Windows 1.0.1    
1985   release of Aldus PageMaker for MacIntosh    
1985       introduction of Toshiba 1-Mbits DRAM
1985   foundation of Kendall Square Research by Henry Burkhardt (ex-Encore)    
1985   foundation of Atmel by George Perlegos et Tsung-Ching Wu at San Jose.
Atmel will soon buy the Honeywell semi-conductors division at Colorado Springs 		    
Dec 1985   acquisition of Multimate by Ashton-Tate    
1986   General Electric takes control of RCA    
Jan 1986   introduction of DEC VAX-8800 top of line and of VAX-8200 and 8300    
Jan 1986   creation of IETF Internet Engineering Task Force    
Jan 1986   retirement of William Norris, chairman of Control Daa replaced by Robert Price    
1986   introduction of Atari 520 ST, based on MC68000    
Feb 1986       operation of Elbrus  in a x10 MP processor configuration
1986   foundation of Free Software Foundation by Stallman (ex-MIT)    
1986   creation of NSFNET for Universities (spin-off of Arpanet)    
1986   introduction of Motorola 68030 microprocessor    
Mar 1986   IPO of Microsoft.
installation of Microsoft at Redmond		    
Mar 1986   introduction of first Cisco routers    
1986   Steve Jobs buys Pixar, a movie company,  from George Lucas    
7 Apr 1986       Sinclair is bought by Amstrad
Apr 1986   release of Microsoft Word 3.0    
Apr 1986   Jim Manzi becomes Lotus CEO replacing Mitch Kapor    
28 Apr 1986   Les Alberthal, named CEO of EDS    
1986   introduction of Honeywell DPS-9000 large scale computer based on NEC ACOS2000   introduction of NEC ACOS-6 system 2000
1986     acquisition by CGE of telecommunications assets of ITT group. Pierre Suard is named CEO of Alcatel non-French assets of ITT incorporated into Alcatel NV
1986   release of Smalltalk/V for PC    
1 Jun 1986 John Akers is promoted IBM's CEO      
Jun 1986   release of 4.3 BSD    
1986   introduction by ALR Advanced Logic Research Company of a PC based on 386    
Sep 1986   introduction of Compaq Deskpro 386    
1986       release of Eiffel programming language
1986   foundation of Bachman Information Systems by Charlei Bachman and Szolovits    
1986 opening of a new IBM laboratory at Almaden CA, successor of  San Jose's      
1986   first router introduced by Cisco    
1986   introduction of Cray XP with 4 processors    
1986   introduction of Apple MacPlus    
1986   acquisition of Infocom by Activision    
1986   introduction of Connection Machine designed by Daniel Hillis of Thinking Machines Corp, an early MPP supercomputer    
1986 introduction of IBM PC/RT based on project 801 RISC processor      
1986   introduction of Apple IIgs, 16-bits computer    
1986       birth of SGML standard
1986     foundation of Chorus Systems by Hubert Zimmermann (ex-INRIA)  
1986   acquisition of ADR by Ameritech    
1986   Allied-Signal divest non-strategic assets to Henley Group and confirms its aerospace business    
1986       Siemens acquires 80% of assets of GTE in Europe and takes control of ATEA manufacturer of PABX in Belgium
1986   crisis at Symbolics, Brian Sear named COO, conflict with founder Russel Noftsker    
1986   development of Postgres , an object-relational data base, at Univ of Berkeley by Michael Stonebraker    
1986       AEG acquires Modcomp 
1986   bankruptcy of Computer Usage Company    
1986 introduction of PC/RT a RISC workstation      
Sep 1986   Merge of Burroughs Corporation and Sperry to form Unisys Corporation    
Sep 1986       introduction of Honeywell Italia DPS-4000
1986       acquisition of Standard Elektrik Lorenz by CGE-Alcatel
Sep 1986   introduction of VAXMate with MSDOS and VMS    
Oct 1986 introduction of IBM 9370       
1 Dec 1986   Ross Perot, and the chairman Mort Meyerson left EDS    
2 Dec 1986   Honeywell announces the divestiture of its computer division    
31 Dec 1986   fist delivery of ETA-10 to Florida State    
Dec 1986   Honeywell acquires Sperry Aerospace and becomes an aerospace avionics leader    
1 Jan 1987       acquisition of Bell Telephone Manufacturing Cy of Belgium from ITT  by French Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (now Alcatel)
1987     creation of SGS-Thomson Microelectronics by the acquisition by Thomson of part of IRI shares into SGS  
Jan 1987   introduction of DEC VAX-8974 and 8978    
1987       introduction of Elbrus 2 large scale soviet computer
1987   acquisition by Borland of Ansa, a company developing Paradox data base software    
Feb 1987 introduction of IBM 3090E      
Feb 1987       introduction of Aiwa DAT recorder
1987   introduction of Digital Micro-VAX    
1987     privatization of CGE Compagnie Générale d'Electricité  
Mar 1987   introduction of Apple MacIntosh II with NuBus    
27 Mar 1987   creation of Honeywell-Bull Inc where Honeywell share is reduced to 43%, Groupe Bull being 43% and the rest to NEC
Honeywell share will go down to 16% at year's end 		    
Mar 1987   creation of Sematech at Austin TX, subsidized by DARPA    
7 Apr 1987     introduction and first shipment of Bull DPS-7000, a CMOS medium scale computer code named Ares  
1987     spin-off of Prologue Software by Bull  
Apr 1987 introduction of IBM PS/2 a line of personal computers with MicroChannel Architecture bus Microsoft and IBM announce OS/2 multi-tasking operating system    
1987   General Electric sells RCA consumer products to Thomson (keeping some of RCA royalties). RCA becomes Thomson Consumer Electronics Thomson sells to GE Compagnie Generale de Radiologie  
1987 introduction of IBM System Applications Architecture (SAA)      
1987   spin-off of Memorex from Unisys  Burroughs    
1987       introduction of DAT digital audio tape format
1987   introduction of AMD-2900 slice microprocessor    
10 Jun 1987   Microsoft announced Excel  for the MacIntosh    
1987   introduction of Microsoft Windows 2.0    
1987     Foundation of Gemplus, a smartcard manufacturer by Roland Lassus  
1987     Merge between Thomson Semiconducteurs and... ... SGS Group forming SGS-Thomson Microelectronics under Pasquale Pistorio
1987       European Union DGXIII publishes a Telecommunications Green Book suggesting deregulation
1987   William Hewitt retires from Hewlett-Packard    
1987   Apple creates Claris, a software subsidiary    
1987   introduction of Apple HyperCard on Apple MacIntosh, designed by William Atkinson    
1987   Control Data acquires the totality of MPI and forms Imprimis    
1987   introduction of Traveling Software LapLink    
1987   Sun & AT&T sign an alliance to develop UNIX System V Release 4.    
1987   release of Borland Quattro spreadsheet program    
1987   introduction of Aldus PageMaker for Windows    
1987       introduction of Acorn Archimedes
Jul 1987   acquisition of Powerpoint editor, Forethought by Microsoft    
1987   introduction of Sun 4 computer based on SPARC architecture    
1987   acquisition of CAD Computervision by Prime    
1987       introduction of Sharp electronic organizer
1987 agreement of Lotus with IBM for a 10-year software development delivery of Lotus 1-2-3 release 3.0    
1987 introduction of IBM PS/2 discarding ISA bus, being replaced by MCA, and featuring VGA video      
1987       foundation of TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in Hsin-Chu
Jul 1987   introduction of Honeywell DPS-8000    
15 Jul 1987   introduction of Sun Microsystems UltraSparc II microprocessor    
Sep 1987   introduction of Unisys A Series    
Sep 1987     creation of Axone, a minority (45%) subsidiary of IBM France, which integrate the IBM France private network  
1987 release of IBM-Microsoft first release of OS/2 with only a command line interface      
Sep 1987   introduction of DEC VAX-6000 based on CVAX chip    
Sep 1987   National Semiconductors acquires Fairchild Semiconductors    
Oct 1987       introduction of Honeywell Italia DPS6-Plus 200
31 Oct 1987   introduction of Microsoft Excel for Windows 2.0    
Nov 1987   Thorndyke is replaced by Carl Ledbetter (ex-Prime, ex-IBM) as head of ETA    
Dec 1987   publication of VHDL ANSI standard    
1987 delivery of Microsoft OS/2 on IBM PC      
Jan 1988   Microsoft acquires a Sybase license for SQL Server    
Feb 1988     introduction of DPS-7000 new models code-named Ares phase 2  
Feb 1988   introduction of Cray Y-MP    
Mar 1988   introduction of Univac 2200/400    
Mar 1988   introduction of R3000 MIPS microprocessor    
Mar 1988   suit by Apple against Microsoft's windows and New Wave's of H-P    
2 Apr 1988   Robert T Morris introduces a worm in the Internet thta lead to the founding of CERT. Morris was the first sentenced under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act    
1988 IBM and Sears introduces PRODIGY service for PC      
May 1988     inauguration of smart card of Gemplus at Gemenos  
1988   introduction of Motorola 88000 RISC microprocessor
Apple will discard migration to that processor.		    
1988   merge between Memorex and Telex forming Memorex Telex    
1988       introduction of Toshiba 16Mbits DRAM
1988   Convergent Technology is bought by Unisys    
1988       introduction of Amstrad PC-1512 in UK and Western Europe
1988   establishment of Sematech consortium headed by William Norris at Austin TX    
1988   AMD buys Gould microdevices business    
1988       GEC and Plessey create GPT
Apr 1988   Introduction of first RISC computers by Hewlett-Packard (code-named Spectrum) architect Joel Birnbaum (ex-IBM)    
1988   first transatlantic fiber optic cable    
17 May 1988   creation of Open System Foundation by IBM, H-P, Bull and Digital against Sun & AT&T risks of monopoly on UNIX    
1988   introduction of Steve Job's NeXt computer based on Motorola 68030    
1988 introduction of IBM Enterprise Systems Architecture ESA/370      
1988       Multitech name chaged in Acer
Jun 1988 introduction of IBM Application Systems AS/400 code named Silverlake      
1988       merge between Samsung Electronics and Samsung Semiconductors under the former name
Jun 1988   introduction of Intel 386SX microprocessor with 275,000 transistors    
1988   General Electric sells its CAD Calma division to Valid Logic and its solid state division to Harris    
1988     Cap Gemini merge with SESA into Cap Sesa  
1988   Tandem acquires Ungermann Bass    
1988   AMD acquires Gould Microdevices    
Sep 1988     introduction of Bull DPS7000E  
Sep 1988   introduction of Univac 2200/600    
1988   Stephen Wolfram releases Mathematica    
1988   IPO of Dell     
1988       acquisition by Nokia of Standard-Elektrik Lorenz from Alcatel
1988   introduction of Unisys 2200/400 main frame    
1988   introduction of Motorola MC8800 RISC microprocessor    
1988   Computer Associates acquires Applied Data Research from Ameritech    
1988       introduction of TRON operating systems by Ken Sakamura
1988       introduction of Casio QV-10 watch with ITRON operating system
1988   Honeywell-Bull transfers MULTICS maintenance to University of Calgary, which set up a separate corporation called ACTC Technologies    
1988   introduction of ETA-10P under Unix System V    
1988   first ISDN offering in United States    
1988       introduction of Sega 16-bits Megadrive game console in Japan
later imported as Sega Genesis in the US 
31 Oct 1988 introduction of OS/2 presentation manager by IBM & Microsoft      
1 Nov 1988   worm introduced by Robert Morris Jr in government UNIX systems    
Nov 1988     introduction of ISDN (Numeris) by French PTT  
1988   acquisition of the Link Flight Simulation Division of Singer by CAE Electronics    
1988     Infogrammes becomes distributor of SimCity game  
Dec 1988       end of monopoly of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone on mobile phones
Jan 1989   introduction of DEC VAX-6300    
1989     Sales of Intertechnique informatique division to Siemens  
1989   introduction of Maxis SimCity graphic game designed by Will Wright    
1989   Internet Architecture Board split into: ....   .....
  • IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
  • IRTF Internet Research Task Force
  • ISOC Internet Society
1989       introduction of NEC SX-3 supercomputer
1989   introduction of Sun Sparcstation 1    
1989   Memorex-Telex acquires NAS (Hitachi main frames reseller)    
1989       Aki Morita retires from Sony' CEO and is replaced by Norio Ohga
17 Apr 1989   closure of ETA supercomputer subsidiary of Control Data    
1989     CGE and GEC create GEC-Alsthom for transport and power invention of Web and HTML, HTTP by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN
1989   Gene Amdahl quits Trilogy and Elxsi    
Apr 1989   introduction of Intel i486 with 1.2 million transistors, code named P4    
1989       joint acquisition of Plessey by GEC and Siemens
1989       introduction of Nintendo GameBoy console
1989   introduction of Apple Portable MacIntosh    
1989     Alsthom and General Electric Company found GEC-Alsthom  
1989   introduction of Convex C220 scientific minisupercomputer    
28 Jun 1989     Francis Lorentz becomes CEO of Groupe Bull, replacing Jacques Stern  
1989       introduction of Dynabook notebook personal computer by Toshiba
1989 creation of at Eau Claire WI, Supercomputer System Inc (SSI) by Steve Chen (ex-Cray) with IBM participation.
venture terminated in 1993 		      
1989   publication of SPEC benchmarks    
1989       Alcatel absorbs Telettra of Italy
17 Jul 1989   introduction of Evans & Sutherland supercomputer ES-1with a very limited success. head of Engineering of Evans & Sutherland was Jean-Yves Leclerc (ex-CII)  
1989   introduction of Quattro-Pro spreadsheet software by Borland    
1989   acquisition of Cullinet by Computer Associates for $330M    
Aug 1989   acquisition of Advantage Companies Inc by LDDS that becomes public    
1989   Hewlett-Packard acquires Apollo Computers of Chelmsford MA    
1989   Grid introduces GridPad notebook designed by Jeff Hawkins    
1989   Introduction of Motorola MC68040 with 1.2 million transistors at 25MHz    
Oct 1989   introduction of VAX-9000 main frame    
2 Oct 1989     Bull acquires Zenith Data Systems, a Chicago microcomputer manufacturer  
1989   development of RAID-I at Berkeley Univ based on Sun4 processors and SCSI devices    
1989   foundation of S3 a graphic card deign company by Ron Yara, Dado Banatao (ex-C&T)    
1989   foundation of Cray Computer Corporation by Seymour Cray
announcement of Cray 3 based on gallium-arsenide technology and foundation of Cray Research		    
1989   introduction of Digital VAX-9000, code named Aquarius    
Oct 1989     Bull acquires a reselling license from MIPS  
19 Nov 1989   British telecom acquires Tymnet from Mc Donnell Douglas    
Dec 1989   introduction of PCMCIA standard    
11 Jan 1990   Robert Galvin steps down from Motorola chairmanship    
1990   Imprimis the peripheral subsidiary of CDC is sold to Seagate    
Jan 1990       Siemens acquires Nixdorf and merges it with its Data Systems division into Siemens-NixdorfInformation Systems AG
16 Feb 1990   IPO of Cisco    
Apr 1990       Fujitsu releases UNIX System V release 4, UXP/M for its main frames
22 May 1990   release of Microsoft Windows 3.0    
May 1990   at AMD, Rich Previte becomes president and chief operation officer, replacing Tony Holbrook, named CTO    
1990   introduction of i860 scientific processor    
1990 introduction of IBM RS/6000 workstation based on superscalar Power1 multichip processor.      
1990   introduction of Lotus Notes    
1990   introduction of Intel i860 based massive parallel computer    
1990       Samsung opens a plant at Onyang, Korea
1990       acquisition of British Standard Telephones and Cables STC by Northern Telecom
1990   introduction of AMD 386/DX at 40 MHz    
1990   introduction of Apple MacIntosh Classic and LC    
1990       introduction of writable CD-R by Sony
1990     Jacques Tordjman named  CEO of GFI Informatique  
1990   introduction of Sun Sparcstation 2    
1990 Rolm is resold to Siemens Corporation      
1990     Cap Gemini acquires Hoskyns in the UK  
1990   Hewlett-Packard introduces Precision PA-RISC architecture    
1990       release of Nintendo Super Mario 3
1990     François Brancilhon (ex-INRIA) founds O2 technologies  
1990       Sun Microsystems establishes a plant in Scotland
1990   NSFNET replaces Arpanet    
1990   introduction of a pen-based tablet by GO Corp, later acquired by AT&T and abandoned mid-1994    
Aug 1990       Fujitsu buys 80% of ICL shares for $1.2B
1990       privatization of Telmex in Mexico
1990   acquisition of Altos Computer Systems...   ...by Taiwanese Acer for $94M
5 Sep 1990 introduction of IBM ES/9000 and Enterprise Systems Architecture (ESA).      
1990   death of Joseph Licklidder at 76, who at ARPA was responsible of Internet development    
1990   Dun & Bradstreet acquires MSA for $333M    
1990   introduction of EMC² Symmetrix 4200 Integrated Cached Disk Array    
Oct 1990   introduction of Intel 386SL low power dissipation microprocessor with 855,000 transistors    
Oct 1990   introduction of VAX-6500 using Mariah chip    
1990     introduction of DPS-7000 Auriga computer  
1990       foundation of Omnitel, an Italian mobile communications company, with Olivetti as a shareholder
1990   Atmel acquires the semiconductor division of Honeywell (SSED)    
1 Jan 1991     DGTdirection générale des télécommunications of PTT becomes France Telecom an independent operator  
Jan 1991   Enrico Pesatori named CEO of Zenith Data Systems in Groupe Bull replacing John Frank    
1991     Compagnie Générale d'Électricité is renamed Alcatel Alsthom  
1991   NSF initiates High Performance Computing Program grouping government civil agencies: Environmental Protection Agency, the National Library of Medicine (a branch of NIH), NIST, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and later, the Department of Education, NSA, and the Veterans Administration    
1991     Debis (from Daimler Benz German group) acquires 34% of Cap Gemini.  
Mar 1991   introduction of AMD 386DX at 40 Mhz    
1991 introduction of IBM RS/6000 series 700      
5 Mar 1991       White paper of the UK government about privatization of telecom operators
2 Apr 1991       British Telecom renamed BT
1991       introduction of Super Nintendo game console
Apr 1991   introduction of Intel 486SX with 1,185,000 transistors code-named P4S    
1991   introduction of Digital proxy server named SEAL    
1991       introduction of Creative Labs Soundblaster stereo card
1991       introduction of Psion Series 3 PDA
1991   investment of IBM into Wang    
1991       introduction of Mini Disk by Sony
1991   Design of Java programming language (initially named "Oak") by Patrick Naughton, Mike Sheridan, and James Gosling from Sun Microsystems    
1991    : acquisition of GFI Informatique by EDS, Jacques Tordjman named CEO of EDS-GFI acquisition of SD-Scion by EDS for $267M
May 1991   acquisition of NCR by AT&T for $6.3B    
May 1991   introduction of Apple MacIntosh System 7 with Multifinder    
May 1991     Bull divests its peripheral activities of Belfort  
1991   EDS acquires McDonnell Douglas IT division later named Unigraphics    
1991   Honeywell sells its last shares in Honeywell-Bull to Machines-Bull Groupe-Bull acquires all assets of Honeywell-Bull and establish Italian and British operations as direct subsidiaries NEC exchanges its shares of Honeywell-Bull for a limited shareholding of Groupe Bull
1991   Compaq introduces without success EISA bus against Intel AT-bus (aka ISA)    
1991       introduction of NEC S3800 ACOS-4 large scale computer
1991   introduction of Cray Y-MP C90 with 16 processors    
1991   Larry Bossidy named CEO of AlliedSignal    
Jun 1991     Bull abandons MIPS alliance and is courted by H-P and IBM  
Jul 1991 alliance between IBM, Apple and Motorola for the development of PowerPC Apple, IBM and H-P create Taligent    
1991   introduction of SunSoft Solaris version 2 operating system    
1991       abandon of 5th generation program by Japanese MITI
1991   release of Gopher designed by Paul Lindner and Mark P.McCahill from University of Minnesota    
1991       Philips attempts to launch CD-Interactive  format 
1991   introduction of Powerbook and MacIntosh Quadra by Apple    
Jul 1991   Acquisition of Ashton-Tate by Borland International    
Aug 1991       Fujitsu concludes an agreement with HAL from US on commercial UNIX development
1991       Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, Geneva,  released World Wide Web.
1991   AT&T NCR acquires Teradata    
5 Oct 1991       introduction of Linux 0.02 by Linus Torwalds
1 Oct 1991   introduction of R4000 by MIPS    
Nov 1991   introduction of Digital VAX6600 in CMOS 0.75µm technology    
Dec 1991       British Telecom completely privatized
31 Dec 1991   BellSouth Telecommunications is formed by merging the South Central Bell Telephone Company and the Southern Bell Telegraph and Telephone Company, both operations of BellSouth Corporation, Atlanta GA    
20 Jan 1992     Bull concludes a RISC alliance with IBM on PowerPC, disregarding H-P offer.  
1992   Introduction of Windows/NT by Microsoft    
Feb 1992   introduction of DEC Alpha architecture    
1992   creation of Macromedia    
1992       release of SAP R/3
Apr 1992   introduction of Microsoft Windows 3.1    
1992   Hewlett-Packard acquires Ask software house    
May 1992     revocation of Francis Lorentz as Bull's CEO  
1992   introduction of Sun SPARCstation 10 system,    
1992       introduction of Sharp LCD 16.5" color TFT displays
1992   death of Grace Hopper from Univac and USNavy. She pioneered  COBOL     
1992   acquisition of MIPS by Silicon Graphics    
1992       Cap Gemini buys Volmac in Netherlands
1992   Ceridian Corporation spun-off from Control data Corporation service business    
Jul 1992   departure of Ken Olsen founder and CEO of Digital Equipment, replaced by Robert Palmer    
Jul 1992   termination of Prime computers division. The company takes the name of its Computervision division    
Jul 1992   introduction of DEC VAX 7000    
Sep 1992       Fujitsu introduces VPP500 vector supercomputer
1992   demonstration by Bell Labs of transmission of information by optical solitons at 5Gbps on 11,000 km    
Oct 1992       first shipment  of NEC ACOS 3900 running ACOS-4
1992   Microsoft releases Windows for Workgroups aka Windows 3.1.1    
1992   death of Robert Noyce, founder of Intel and Fairchild Semiconductors, at 65     
Oct 1992 introduction of PowerPC 601microprocessor by IBM and Motorola      
1992   death of John Kemeny  inventor of BASIC at 62    
1992 introduction of IBM ThinkPad PC notebooks      
1992   introduction of Apple Newton PDA, abandoned in 1997    
1992 IBM introduces Power2 multichips (8) processor on high end  RS/6000      
1992   introduction (somewhat prematurely) of Microsoft Windows for Pen.    
1992   introductions of Microsoft Access and Foxpro data base software products    
Jan 1993   Jacques Noels named CEO of Zenith Data Systems in Groupe Bull    
Mar 1993   release of OSF-1 for DEC Alpha    
Mar 1993   introduction of Intel Pentium with 3,100,000 transistors, code named  P5    
1 Apr 1993 Lou Gerstner elected CEO of IBM, replacing John Akers who was demoted in January 1993      
Apr 1993   introduction of Am-486    
Apr 1993       agreement between AMD and Fujitsu to produce jointly flash memories
1993   introduction of Microsoft Windows NT for Intel and MIPS architectures    
1993       introduction of Inmos (UK) T9000 Transputer with 3.3 millions transistors
1993       introduction of Psion series 3A PDA
1993   introduction of Civilization game created by Sid Meier    
Apr 1993     creation of Mosaic Web browser for X-Windows by Marc Andreesen and Eric Bima at NCSA National Center for Supercomputer Applications, at U of Illinois    
1993 IBM acquires Lotus      
1993       CCITT renamed ITU International Telecommunication Union
1993   AT&T acquires McCaw Cellular cable business for $2.6B    
1993     introduction of digital cellphone network GSM
success of GSM with France Télécom (Orange), SFR and Bouygues will occur only in 1996 		  
1993   delivery of Cray 3 by CCC in AsGa technology    
1993       foundation of nVIDIA by Jen-Hsu-Huang, Curtis Priem and Chris Malachowsky
1993 IBM spins off its personal computer printer division into Lexmark       
May 1993   introduction of microsoft Windows NT v3.1    
Jun 1993   Zenith Data Systems (a Groupe Bull company) acquires 19.9% of Packard-Bell    
Jun 1993   John Sculley is demoted from Apple and replaced as CEO by Spindler    
Jun 1993   BT British Telecom acquires 20% of MCI    
Aug 1993   delivery of Apple Newton PDA using ACORN processor    
Sep 1993   release of Windows/NT for DEC Alpha    
1993     IBM France acquires CGI a software (PacBase) and service company  
1993   Loral acquires Paramax covering the Unisys Defense business interests    
1993   introduction of Microsoft Encarta    
1993   Adobe introduces its .PDF Portable Document Format with its free Acrobat Reader    
1993     BM France acquires Axone service company  
1993   Western Digital introduces a 340MB 3"1/2 é-patters disk    
1993   foundation of Vermeer by Charles Ferguson    
1993 IBM Federal Systems Division is sold to Loral      
Oct 1993     Jean-Marie Descarpentries, named Bull's CEO, in charge of its privatization  
14 Dec 1993   Microsoft introduces Excel 5.0 for Windows with VBA macros    
31 Dec 1993 death of Thomas J Watson Jr. at 79      
1994       introduction of NEC SX-4 supercomputer
Feb 1994   Jim Clark resigns from Silicon Graphics looking to work on Interactive TV.     
Mar 1994   Apple introduces Power MacIntosh based on  PowerPC 601 processor emulating Motorola 680x0    
Mar 94   NextGen introduces Nx586 with 3,500,000 transistors    
1994   Novell acquires Wordperfect    
1994   Novell buys USL Unix System Laboratories , the Unix activities of AT&T    
1994     introduction of Bull single-chip mainframe processor Auriga 2  
Apr 1994   foundation of Netscape by Marc Andreesen and Jim Clark    
Apr 1994   introduction of Intel 486SX2 with 1,185,000 transistors     
1994       introduction of NEC SX-4 supercomputer
1994   AT&T purchase McCaw Cellular    
1994   Digital sells rdb data base to Oracle    
1994   introduction of Netscape Navigator 1.0    
3 May 1994 introduction of Advanced Systems AS/400, code named Superior      
May 1994   closure of Commodore international    
1994   introduction of Iomega Zip with 100MB removable disc cartridge    
1994       Norio Ohga resigns from Sony CEO and is replaced by Nobuyuki Idei
1994   merge between Aldus and Adobe    
1994   FCC opens bids for licensing PCS Personal Communications Services on 1.7 to 2.3 GHz frequencies     
Jun 1994       creation of Concert a joint company between BT and MCI, 
a prelude to merger negotiations failed in 1997 
27 Jul 194 announcement of Kingston plant closure      
1994   Intel and Hewlett-Packard designed the IA64 architecture 
to be made available on Itanium 		    
1994   Bull sells its maintenance activities in North America to Wang    
Oct 1994 introduction of Advanced 36, sharing a common platform with Advanced Systems 400      
1994   Charlie Sporck resigns from National Semiconductors    
1994     Wang acquires Bull maintenance and services in North America and some Unix software activities  
1994   Computer Associates acquires Ask  Corporation (including Ingres)    
1994  

Dr Evans retires from E&S replaced as CEO by James Oyler 

    
1994 IBM and ...   ...Bull introduce a AIX multiprocessor server code-named Pegasus based on PowerPC, named Escala by Bull, ... ... developed at Bull Italia in collaboration with IBM Austin and Echirolles lab in France
Oct 1994   Intel introduces Pentium at 90/100 MHz code named P54C using .6µm BiCMOS process    
Oct 1994 IBM released OS/2 Warp 3.0      
1994   acquisition of Broderbund by Electronic Arts    
1994   release of Myst game by Cyan    
1994       introduction of Epson Stylus Color
1994  foundation of 3Dfx graphic card company by Gordon Campbell    
1994   AT&T  sells UNIX to Novell and abandons the 3B servers line    
1994       introduction of 256Mb DRAM chip by Samsung Electronics
1994       BCE of Canada acquires 20% of Mercury that establishes a long distance operation
1994       Hitachi introduces 32-bit RISC processor SuperH (SH) family
Nov 1994       introduction of NEC SX-4 supercomputer
Dec 1994       introduction of Sony Playstation designed by Ken Kutaragi
Dec 1994     introduction of Bull Mainway 2000 communication computer based on MC68000 microprocessors  

 

© Jean Bellec 2002

NEXT 1995-
 -1944 1945-1963 1964-1974 BACK