Computer History Page 6

Deja Vu: A Brief History of Every Mac CPU Architecture

Over the last 36 years, the Apple Macintosh has had three different CPU architectures, and it’s poised to potentially migrate to a fourth. As rumors about a switch to ARM swirl, let’s take a brief look at the history of CPU a…

Benj Edwards Jun 20th, 2020

Remembering Windows 2000, Microsoft’s Forgotten Masterpiece

Twenty years ago, Microsoft released Windows 2000. A rock-solid, 32-bit business-oriented alternative to Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition, it paved the way for future consumer versions, including Windows 10. Here’s w…

Benj Edwards Jun 13th, 2020

How the Gravis PC GamePad Transformed PC Gaming in the ’90s

In 1992, when Nintendo’s Super NES and Sega Genesis ruled home video gaming, Gravis brought console-style controls to the PC with its PC GamePad. It sold well and opened the door to new styles of gameplay on PCs. Here’s what …

Benj Edwards Jun 6th, 2020

Windows 3.0 Is 30 Years Old: Here’s What Made It Special

Thirty years ago this month, Microsoft released Windows 3.0, a graphical environment that represented a dramatic leap over its predecessors in terms of capability and popularity. Here’s what made Windows 3.0 special….

Benj Edwards May 23rd, 2020

40 Years Later, ‘Pac-Man’ Is Still Capturing Our Hearts

It was 40 years ago when Pac-Man first gobbled its way into Japanese arcades and captured our hearts with its simple, but challenging, gameplay. Even after all this time, Pac-Man still rules as a cultural icon. Let’s explor…

Benj Edwards May 22nd, 2020

How to Read a Floppy Disk on a Modern PC or Mac

Remember floppies? Back in the day, they were essential. Eventually, they were replaced, and floppy disk drives vanished from new computers. Here’s how to access a vintage 3.5- or 5.25-inch floppy disk on a modern Windows PC …

Benj Edwards May 2nd, 2020

How to Play Classic “Doom” in Widescreen on Your PC or Mac

Some games never go out of style. Over two decades after its release, Doom still enthralls players with its fluid, first-person shooter action. Thanks to a range of modern ports, you can now play the game with enhanced graphi…

Benj Edwards Apr 11th, 2020

How to Write an Apple II BASIC Program in Your Web Browser

Have you ever wanted to program a vintage computer? If you use the BASIC programming language and run a simulation of the legendary Apple II in your browser, it’s easy! You’ll get an excellent idea what programming was like i…

Benj Edwards Apr 4th, 2020

How Apple’s 2020 iPad Pro Compares to the 1994 Trackpad Mac

Apple unveiled a new iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard with a trackpad in March 2020. This is the first time Apple’s pushed a trackpad for iPads. It reminded us of the company’s first laptop with a trackpad: the Powerbook 500 seri…

Benj Edwards Mar 28th, 2020

Text-Based VR: Explore the Pioneering World of MUSHes

Can you create virtual reality (VR) with nothing but text? People who MUSH think so! The MUSH game format (which is now 30-years-old) allows online players to collaboratively build text-based online worlds where their imagina…

Benj Edwards Mar 19th, 2020

What Is the Konami Code, and How Do You Use it?

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. It’s called the Konami Code, and it often meant the difference between life and death in a video game back in the 1980s.

Benj Edwards Feb 28th, 2020

Even 25 Years Later, the Iomega Zip Is Unforgettable

The year is 1995. You’re stuck with slow floppy disks that only hold 1.44 MB of data. But there’s an exciting new technology: Zip drives, which can hold 100 MB and free you from floppy disks!

Benj Edwards Feb 25th, 2020

RIP Windows 7: We’re Going to Miss You

More than a decade after its release, Windows 7 support ends on January 14, 2020. Let’s look back at what made Windows 7 so awesome and why it’s a great operating system we’ll remember for the rest of our lives….

Chris Hoffman Jan 13th, 2020

What Was the Windows Briefcase Used For, Anyway?

The Windows Briefcase was introduced in Windows 95 and was the Dropbox of its day. It’s still part of Windows 7, but was deprecated in Windows 8 and is no longer part of Windows 10.

Chris Hoffman Nov 27th, 2018

What Happened to Winamp, and Can You Use It Now?

Twenty-five years ago Winamp was the future. Now it’s a distant memory. What happened?

Justin Pot Oct 11th, 2018

Why Old Video Games Were So Hard: The Unofficial History of Nintendo Hard

If you’re old enough to have played games in the 80s or early 90s, you’ll remember that they were hard: really damn hard. Why they were they so infuriatingly difficult? The answer presents a fascinating look at the history …

Justin Pot Mar 10th, 2018

Re-Live 90s Computing In Your Browser Right Now

Remember the 90s? Computers were slow, and connected over dialup, but we loved them anyway. If you ever feel nostalgic for that era you can revisit it online, right now, without leaving your web browser….

Justin Pot Mar 3rd, 2018

RIP AIM, the Messaging App AOL Never Wanted

Another piece of the retro Internet is dead. AOL’s free instant messaging service, called AIM, is shutting down its servers on December 15, 2017, 20 years after it launched…and about ten years after it was last relevant….

Justin Pot Oct 6th, 2017

Why Microsoft Dropped 3D Pinball From Windows (and How to Bring It Back)

Forget Solitaire and Minesweeper. The best game ever included with Windows was a virtual pinball table. With blinking lights and arcade sounds, 3D Pinball for Windows seemed like magic back in 1995, and is surprisingly playab…

Justin Pot Aug 15th, 2017

What Are the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause Break Keys on My Keyboard?

Glance at your keyboard and chances are you’ll see a few keys you never use near the top-right corner: Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause / Break. Have you ever wondered what those keys are for?

Chris Hoffman Sep 26th, 2016

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