1980
Microsoft's Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Kay Nishi formally decide to accept IBM's contract to develop languages and an operating system for the upcoming IBM PC.
1987
Brooklyn hackers gain access to MILNET, a portion of ARPANET reserved for unclassified United States Department of Defense communications. It is among the earliest and most notable government hacking incidents to become publicized.
1997
Apple Computer launched its “Think Different” marketing campaign featuring a free-verse poem read by Richard Dreyfuss and Jeff Goldblum in a series of now-famous television commercials composed of images of some of the most celebrated thinkers in history, including Albert Einstein. The company's slogan during the course of the campaign, “Think Different,” was a play on the “IBM Think” slogan coined by Thomas J. Watson.
The poem read, “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.”
1998
Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer, first overtook the Netscape Navigator in terms of popularity, officially gaining the title of world’s leading web browser.
Microsoft halted distribution of Office 97 Service Release 2 to repair installation errors.
2000
Apple Computer announced a revenue shortfall for the months of July through September, sending the value of Apple's stock plunging by fifty-two percent to just twenty-five dollars.
2001
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly urged Microsoft and the United States Department of Justice to settle their antitrust case rather than proceeding to court and sets a November second deadline by which to do so.
2005
The eDonkey2000 client is discontinued under threat of a lawsuit from MetaMachine after the United States Supreme Court judgment against Grokster paved the way for software developers to be held responsible for any copyright infringement at their software facilities. The underlying eDonkey Network would remain active, though, through other clients, including aMule and eMule.
2006
Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced the coming acquisition of computer manufacturer VoodooPC, based in Alberta, Canada, for an undisclosed amount. Rahul Sood, co-founder of the company discusses the acquistion in a blog the same day. In the entry, he explains that the company had been considering some such tactic since mid-2005, first exploring the possibility of a merger with Dell, then with various manufacturers in Taiwan, before settling on HP. He cited the “treasure trove of product innovations” produced by HP Labs, which, as part of the merger, he would oversee in the future, as one of the principal reasons behind the merger. “Our passion has been to design the highest performance, personalized PCs. Our
customers should continue to expect the highest level of personalized configurations, service and quality. The benefits of this acquisition to VoodooPC are immense, not least of which was having a direct conduit to HP’s unparalleled innovation and international presence.” The acquisition was completed in November.
Microsoft Messenger 6.0 for the Mac was released.