Computer history - 1988
Major computer events in 1988
Creative Labs introduced the SoundBlaster, a sound card for the PC (personal computer). The sound card contained an 11-voice FM (frequency modulation) synthesizer with text-to-speech, digitized voice input/output, a MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) port, a joystick port, and bundled software.
New computer products and services introduced in 1988
The first version of DR DOS was introduced on May 28, 1988.
MS-DOS 4.0 was released in July 1988.
Microsoft Office was introduced on August 1, 1988.
Steve Jobs unveiled the NeXT computer on October 12, 1988.
Sega released the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive in Japan), in Japan on October 29, 1988, and later in North America on August 14, 1989. As of 2010, at least 20.4 million units were sold globally.
Microsoft released Excel 1.5 for Mac in 1988.
MS-DOS 4.01 was released in November 1988.
3D Studio that became 3ds Max was released in 1988.
The AS/400 line of IBM minicomputers was introduced on June 21, 1988.
IBM released the IBM 3745 high-speed communication controller, featuring logic chips that held up to 40,000 circuits each.
IBM introduced the IBM 3827 and IBM 3835 page printers.
IBM announced the Quickwriter Printer, a high-speed dot matrix printer capable of producing true letter-quality text and graphics.
IBM released the IBM Wheelwriter Series II family of upgradeable typewriters.
The IBM Personal System/2 Screen Reader is announced. It permits blind or visually impaired people to hear the text as it's displayed on the screen.
HP (Hewlett-Packard) developed and introduced the HP DeskJet inkjet printer in 1988. It is considered the first mass-marketed inkjet printer, and became a popular series of inkjet printers.
Microsoft and IBM introduced the Presentation Manager in 1988.
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) was introduced in 1988.
First developed in 1988 by Michael J. Roberts, TADS (Text Adventure Development System) was introduced.
Motorola released the 88000 processor in 1988.
NTP (Network Time Protocol) was introduced in 1988.
Octave was introduced in 1988.
Intel 80386SX was introduced in 1988.
Thinking Machines Inc. introduced WAIS (Wide Area Information Server) in 1988.
Computer and technology-related events in 1988
On March 17, 1988, Apple filed a Copyright infringement against Microsoft for Windows 2.03 for its comparison with its Macintosh operating system and its GUI (graphical user interface). The legal battle would later end on February 21, 1995.
Robert Morris released the Morris worm on November 2, 1988. It became one of the first major worms, infecting roughly 6,000 computers over the Internet and helping to establish the CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) coordination center.
The first T1 backbone was added to ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) in 1988.
Jarkko Oikarinen developed IRC (Internet Relay Chat) in 1988.
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) is announced in September as an alternative to MCA (Micro Channel Architecture).
About 45 million PCs were in use in the United States.
Objective-C was licensed by NeXT in 1988.
Sierra Entertainment's Kings Quest IV became the first game to support AdLib in 1988.
Section 508 is introduced in the 1988 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act, containing information about accessibility standards for information technology.
The ACM/IEEE SC (Supercomputing Conference) was first held in 1988.
In 1988, the technology behind the touchpad, GlidePoint technology, was first invented by Dr. George E. Gerpheide, PhD.
X.400 was re-written in 1988 jointly by ISO and CCITT.
Presentation Manager, a GUI (graphical user interface) that was a joint effort between Microsoft and IBM, was released in 1988.
Computer companies and organizations founded in 1988
3JTech was founded in 1988.
Accton Technology Corporation was founded in 1988.
APS Tech was founded in 1988.
ARCHOS was founded in 1988.
ATTO Technology was founded in 1988.
Kučera and Pavel Baudiš founded Avast in 1988.
AXLE was founded in 1988.
Bitnet and CSNET (Computer Science Network) merge to create CREN (Corporation for Research and Educational Networking) in 1988.
Compro was founded in 1988.
Cyrix was founded in 1988.
Digital Audio Labs was founded in 1988.
F-Secure was founded in 1988.
Insight was founded in 1988.
Linksys was founded in 1988.
Mustek was founded in 1988.
OSF (Open Software Foundation) was founded in 1988.
Palit Microsystems was founded in 1988 by Li Shilong.
Promise was founded in 1988.
Quanta Computer was founded in 1988.
SanDisk was founded in 1988.
Smart Modular Technologies was founded in 1988.
Transcend Information was founded in 1988 by Chung-Won Shu.
Trend Micro was founded in 1988.
Xircom was founded in 1988.
Computer company events in 1988
Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha changed its name to Nikon in 1988.
Discontinued products and services in 1988
Apple ended the sale of its LaserWriter in 1988.
Computer pioneers born in 1988
Christopher Poole was born circa 1988.
Computer pioneer deaths in 1988
Richard Feynman passed away on February 15, 1988 (Age: 69).
Edmund Berkeley passed away on March 7, 1988 (Age: 79).
Andrei Ershov passed away on December 8, 1988 (Age: 57).