Great Moments in Computing History, 1998

The more things changed, the more things remained Microsoft's.

Lincoln Spector, special to PC World

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Here are some of the events that made 1998 a memorable year for the computer industry--the sort of year that helps remind us that things can always get worse.

Microsoft on Trial

While much of the world was watching the Bill and Monica show, those of us in the know followed the real excitement. For most of 1998, Bill Gates and company have been forced to explain and justify business practices just a little more aggressive than Attila the Hun's. My favorite moment: Gates's defense of his disastrous videotaped testimony. If he had known the tape would be shown in court, he "would have smiled a little bit."

Windows 95.1

Back in June, Microsoft released Windows 98 amidst plenty of controversy. With all the talk about whether it should include Internet Explorer, few people noticed exactly what Windows 98 was: All the free upgrades to Windows 95 stuck on one $100 CD-ROM.

Chip Off the Old Pentium

If you must have a PC with the fastest Intel processor around, you probably went broke in 1998. When the year began, the ultimate speed demon was the Pentium II-300. Then, in the space of eight months, we got the 333, 350, 400, and 450. And just to emphasize how quickly obsolescence happens now, Intel released the Celeron-333, a low-end, cheap, not-for-power-users chip that is basically every bit as fast as the Pentium II-333.

The Comeback Kid

The big discovery this summer was Apple's continued existence. In fact, Apple even became profitable again. All it took was a cheaply made computer with a cute outer shell, a price tag that looks small to anyone who hasn't bought a PC lately, and more hype than a presidential election.

Merger Mania Continues

Not that long ago, we thought Compaq's Digital buyout would be the merger of 1998. But as the year comes to a close, another computing pioneer disappears. With America Online buying Netscape Communications, Microsoft will face one big adversary instead of two big ones. Now if AOL can only purchase IBM, Corel, Apple, and Sun, Microsoft will ... well, Microsoft will still be in absolutely no danger.

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