E-SPEAIT T2 General IT History - Revision history

Kaido.kikkas: Kaido.kikkas moved page E-SPEAIT T1 General IT History to E-SPEAIT T2 General IT History without leaving a redirect: loengute järjekorra muutmine

2024-08-28T10:57:42Z

Kaido.kikkas moved page E-SPEAIT T1 General IT History to E-SPEAIT T2 General IT History without leaving a redirect: loengute järjekorra muutmine

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:57, 28 August 2024
(No difference)

Kaido.kikkas: /* The New Millennium */

2023-09-08T15:17:25Z

The New Millennium

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:17, 8 September 2023
Line 162:		Line 162:

	2021 - The pandemic carries on and vaccination becomes a hot topic in the social media. Microsoft introduces the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_11 Windows 11] and Apple [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Monterey MacOS Monterey], the mobile devices get [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_12 Android 12] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_15 iOS 15]. The next stage of global cyber conflict takes place in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Cyberattacks_on_Sri_Lanka Sri Lanka] (The cyber force of the Tamil Tigers attack the government). Ireland gets strongly hit by a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Service_Executive_ransomware_attack ransomware attack], the same happens (in a little smaller scale) in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waikato_District_Health_Board_ransomware_attack New Zealand].		2021 - The pandemic carries on and vaccination becomes a hot topic in the social media. Microsoft introduces the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_11 Windows 11] and Apple [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Monterey MacOS Monterey], the mobile devices get [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_12 Android 12] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_15 iOS 15]. The next stage of global cyber conflict takes place in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Cyberattacks_on_Sri_Lanka Sri Lanka] (The cyber force of the Tamil Tigers attack the government). Ireland gets strongly hit by a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Service_Executive_ransomware_attack ransomware attack], the same happens (in a little smaller scale) in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waikato_District_Health_Board_ransomware_attack New Zealand].

			2022 - the War in Ukraine started its new, active phase in February, also boosting cyberattacks in many places. Russia as the aggressor was targeted by international sanctions, lost a significant share of IT companies previously working there as well as a lot of its IT personnel (mostly due to emigration). It was also targeted by a controversial enemy - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(hacker_group) Anonymous] launched the Operation Russia. In other areas, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI OpenAI] caused a serious mindquake in education worldwide (some panicked reactions suggesting education being doomed). In the business world, Microsoft set out to buy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activision_Blizzard], a major video game company.

	== Conclusion ==		== Conclusion ==

Kaido.kikkas: /* Conclusion */

2023-09-08T15:06:48Z

Conclusion

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:06, 8 September 2023
Line 165:		Line 165:
	== Conclusion ==		== Conclusion ==

	For most people, computers are the invention of the late 20th century - but as seen from above, information technology in general (and even computers as such) are much older. More than often, learning about the past can help to predict the future - therefore, tech history should be studied. It has also been said that history tends to repeat itself...		For most people, computers are the invention of the late 20th century - but as seen from above, information technology in general (and even computers as such) are much older. More than often, learning about the past can help to predict the future - therefore, tech history should be studied. It has also been said that history tends to repeat itself - some mistakes have been made before, as have some nasty tricks and scams. But it also helps one to understand the actual value of what we currently have in our hands.


	== References ==		== References ==

Kaido.kikkas: /* The Iron Age */

2023-09-08T15:03:53Z

The Iron Age

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:03, 8 September 2023
Line 82:		Line 82:
	Finally, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidonet Fidonet] was also born that year - the dial-in ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system BBS]) based network which was especially popular in places where local phone calls were inexpensive or free and vice versa, computer access was restricted (including the former Eastern Bloc). Only when the Internet became the household word at the end of the century, did it back down but is maintained by enthusiasts till today.		Finally, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidonet Fidonet] was also born that year - the dial-in ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system BBS]) based network which was especially popular in places where local phone calls were inexpensive or free and vice versa, computer access was restricted (including the former Eastern Bloc). Only when the Internet became the household word at the end of the century, did it back down but is maintained by enthusiasts till today.

	1984 was the beginning of mass-produced CD-ROMs and IBM released [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer_AT PC AT] which was a substantial improvement over the XT (from the software point of view, the IBM compatible computers have not changed much since then - still, the hardware side as well as the overall performance have changed dramatically). Massachusetts Institute of Technology releases the first version of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System X Window System] - interestingly, the Unix standard of graphical user interface predates Microsoft Windows by several years. In Moscow, Alexey Pajitnov wrote one of the most popular computer games - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris Tetris]. It was followed by a multitude of both legal and not-so-legal copies, one of them which created a real boom among Estonian computer users at the end of the 80s (Tallinn University of Technology even ~~organised~~ a championship tournament!) was aptly named 'Totrus' (Estonian for 'folly', 'stupidity', also 'rubbish').		1984 was the beginning of mass-produced CD-ROMs and IBM released [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer_AT PC AT] which was a substantial improvement over the XT (from the software point of view, the IBM compatible computers have not changed much since then - still, the hardware side as well as the overall performance have changed dramatically). Massachusetts Institute of Technology releases the first version of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System X Window System] - interestingly, the Unix standard of graphical user interface predates Microsoft Windows by several years. In Moscow, Alexey Pajitnov wrote one of the most popular computer games - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris Tetris]. It was followed by a multitude of both legal and not-so-legal copies, one of them which created a real boom among Estonian computer users at the end of the 80s (Tallinn University of Technology even organized a championship tournament!) was aptly named 'Totrus' (Estonian for 'folly', 'stupidity', also 'rubbish').

	By the mid-80s, Internet had matured to be a widespread, yet mostly academic and non-profit (commercial activities like advertisement were prohibited) entity, with e-mail, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telnet Telnet], FTP and Usenet as its main services.		By the mid-80s, Internet had matured to be a widespread, yet mostly academic and non-profit (commercial activities like advertisement were prohibited) entity, with e-mail, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telnet Telnet], FTP and Usenet as its main services.

Kaido.kikkas: /* The Bronze Age */

2023-09-08T15:02:11Z

The Bronze Age

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:02, 8 September 2023
Line 56:		Line 56:
	In 1972, Intel released the first 8-bit microprocessor - with its frequency of 200kHz, it looks antique in comparison with todays 2GHz+ models, yet it was an important step towards personal computers. In the same year, two young men named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_gates William Henry Gates III] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen Paul Allen], create their first company to sell a simple system for traffic density analysis - both the device and the company were called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traf-O-Data Traf-O-Data]. On another front, the newly formed company called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari Atari] releases its first commercial video game titled [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong Pong] - while not the first computer game in history, Pong is definitely a forefather of game consoles like Nintendo, Playstation or X-Box. And finally, diskettes started to shrink - the new ones went from 8 inches to mere [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flippy_disk 5.25].		In 1972, Intel released the first 8-bit microprocessor - with its frequency of 200kHz, it looks antique in comparison with todays 2GHz+ models, yet it was an important step towards personal computers. In the same year, two young men named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_gates William Henry Gates III] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen Paul Allen], create their first company to sell a simple system for traffic density analysis - both the device and the company were called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traf-O-Data Traf-O-Data]. On another front, the newly formed company called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari Atari] releases its first commercial video game titled [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong Pong] - while not the first computer game in history, Pong is definitely a forefather of game consoles like Nintendo, Playstation or X-Box. And finally, diskettes started to shrink - the new ones went from 8 inches to mere [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flippy_disk 5.25].

	The same year marks the first long-distance Internet chat - but not between actual people, but programs that we today would call [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatbot chatbots] - it was a virtual session involving [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA ELIZA] (a tongue-in-cheek version of a psychiatrist) and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARRY PARRY] (a bot emulating someone with paranoid schizophrenia). Notably, while ELIZA was written by computer scientists as a generic experiment, the 'father' of PARRY was an actual psychiatrist, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Colby Kenneth Colby].		The same year marks the first long-distance (MIT-Stanford) Internet chat - but not between actual people, but programs that we today would call [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatbot chatbots] - it was a virtual session involving [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA ELIZA] (a tongue-in-cheek version of a psychiatrist) and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARRY PARRY] (a bot emulating someone with paranoid schizophrenia). Notably, while ELIZA was written by MIT computer scientists as a generic experiment, the 'father' of PARRY was an actual Stanford psychiatrist, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Colby Kenneth Colby].

	The landmarks of 1973 include the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M CP/M], an operating system by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall Gary Kildall] which [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_machines_running_CP/M among other machines] was also popular on various computers built in the Eastern Bloc of the day (e.g. the Juku in Estonia); the specification of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet Ethernet] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Metcalfe Bob Metcalfe] which is still today the main standard for local computer networks; [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftp FTP] is devised to move files over the network; IBM releases its first series of hard disks [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_IBM_disk_storage#IBM_3340 codenamed Winchester] - the name would become the generic term for hard disks for some time.		The landmarks of 1973 include the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M CP/M], an operating system by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall Gary Kildall] which [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_machines_running_CP/M among other machines] was also popular on various computers built in the Eastern Bloc of the day (e.g. the Juku in Estonia); the specification of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet Ethernet] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Metcalfe Bob Metcalfe] which is still today the main standard for local computer networks; [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftp FTP] is devised to move files over the network; IBM releases its first series of hard disks [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_IBM_disk_storage#IBM_3340 codenamed Winchester] - the name would become the generic term for hard disks for some time.

Kaido.kikkas: /* The Stone Age */

2023-09-08T14:58:43Z

The Stone Age

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:58, 8 September 2023
Line 42:		Line 42:
	In 1950, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_turing Alan Turing] formulated the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test Turing test] to determine if a machine is capable of intelligent behaviour. Simply put: the machine is considered intelligent if a human interacting with it cannot determine if he/she is interacting with another human or a machine. During the same year, the first computer named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_hardware_in_Soviet_Bloc_countries MESM] is also built in the Soviet Union. While the Communist countries had a good share of talented mathematicians to provide a theoretical base for technology, they fell seriously behind in the realm of computing - two main reasons being the closedness as well as the overall ignorance (including labelling of many kinds of actual research like psychology and cybernetics 'Western pseudoscience'<ref>https://balticworlds.com/the-cybernetics-scare-and-the-origins-of-the-internet/</ref>) and ineffectiveness of the regime.		In 1950, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_turing Alan Turing] formulated the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test Turing test] to determine if a machine is capable of intelligent behaviour. Simply put: the machine is considered intelligent if a human interacting with it cannot determine if he/she is interacting with another human or a machine. During the same year, the first computer named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_hardware_in_Soviet_Bloc_countries MESM] is also built in the Soviet Union. While the Communist countries had a good share of talented mathematicians to provide a theoretical base for technology, they fell seriously behind in the realm of computing - two main reasons being the closedness as well as the overall ignorance (including labelling of many kinds of actual research like psychology and cybernetics 'Western pseudoscience'<ref>https://balticworlds.com/the-cybernetics-scare-and-the-origins-of-the-internet/</ref>) and ineffectiveness of the regime.

	During the fifties, two important technologies contributed towards the miniaturization of computing technology - in 1954, Texas Instruments started to mass-produce [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor transistors] (which were actually invented already in 1934) and in 1958, the same company introduces the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit integrated circuit]. One of the first transistor-based computers, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TX-0 TX-0] (or "Tixo"), became one of the launchers of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture] at MIT.		During the fifties, two important technologies contributed towards the miniaturization of computing technology - in 1954, Texas Instruments started to mass-produce [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor transistors] (which were actually invented already in 1934) and in 1958, the same company introduces the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit integrated circuit]. One of the first transistor-based computers, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TX-0 TX-0] (or "Tixo"), became one of the launchers of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture hacker culture] at MIT.

	Another noteworthy person who was clearly ahead of his time in the 60s was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart Douglas Engelbart] - the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse computer mouse] was first patented by him in 1963<ref>https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1633972.stm</ref> (but became widely used only in the 80s). He went on to develop [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext hypertext] (the most common example of the principle nowadays being the Web with its linked pages) and by 1968, an early [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface graphical user interface] (which is today used by all widely used computer systems, examples being MS Windows, Apple OS X as well as several desktop systems of variants of Unix and Linux). His 1968 demonstration of then-future computer technologies was later nicknamed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos The Mother of All Demos]<ref>https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1209</ref>.		Another noteworthy person who was clearly ahead of his time in the 60s was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart Douglas Engelbart] - the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse computer mouse] was first patented by him in 1963<ref>https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1633972.stm</ref> (but became widely used only in the 80s). He went on to develop [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext hypertext] (the most common example of the principle nowadays being the Web with its linked pages) and by 1968, an early [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface graphical user interface] (which is today used by all widely used computer systems, examples being MS Windows, Apple OS X as well as several desktop systems of variants of Unix and Linux). His 1968 demonstration of then-future computer technologies was later nicknamed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos The Mother of All Demos]<ref>https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1209</ref>.

Kaido.kikkas: /* The Stone Age */

2023-09-08T14:58:06Z

The Stone Age

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:58, 8 September 2023
Line 42:		Line 42:
	In 1950, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_turing Alan Turing] formulated the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test Turing test] to determine if a machine is capable of intelligent behaviour. Simply put: the machine is considered intelligent if a human interacting with it cannot determine if he/she is interacting with another human or a machine. During the same year, the first computer named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_hardware_in_Soviet_Bloc_countries MESM] is also built in the Soviet Union. While the Communist countries had a good share of talented mathematicians to provide a theoretical base for technology, they fell seriously behind in the realm of computing - two main reasons being the closedness as well as the overall ignorance (including labelling of many kinds of actual research like psychology and cybernetics 'Western pseudoscience'<ref>https://balticworlds.com/the-cybernetics-scare-and-the-origins-of-the-internet/</ref>) and ineffectiveness of the regime.		In 1950, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_turing Alan Turing] formulated the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test Turing test] to determine if a machine is capable of intelligent behaviour. Simply put: the machine is considered intelligent if a human interacting with it cannot determine if he/she is interacting with another human or a machine. During the same year, the first computer named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_hardware_in_Soviet_Bloc_countries MESM] is also built in the Soviet Union. While the Communist countries had a good share of talented mathematicians to provide a theoretical base for technology, they fell seriously behind in the realm of computing - two main reasons being the closedness as well as the overall ignorance (including labelling of many kinds of actual research like psychology and cybernetics 'Western pseudoscience'<ref>https://balticworlds.com/the-cybernetics-scare-and-the-origins-of-the-internet/</ref>) and ineffectiveness of the regime.

	During the fifties, two important technologies contributed towards the miniaturization of computing technology - in 1954, Texas Instruments started to mass-produce [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor transistors] (which were actually invented already in 1934) and in 1958, the same company introduces the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit integrated circuit].		During the fifties, two important technologies contributed towards the miniaturization of computing technology - in 1954, Texas Instruments started to mass-produce [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor transistors] (which were actually invented already in 1934) and in 1958, the same company introduces the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit integrated circuit]. One of the first transistor-based computers, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TX-0 TX-0] (or "Tixo"), became one of the launchers of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture] at MIT.

	Another noteworthy person who was clearly ahead of his time in the 60s was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart Douglas Engelbart] - the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse computer mouse] was first patented by him in 1963<ref>https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1633972.stm</ref> (but became widely used only in the 80s). He went on to develop [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext hypertext] (the most common example of the principle nowadays being the Web with its linked pages) and by 1968, an early [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface graphical user interface] (which is today used by all widely used computer systems, examples being MS Windows, Apple OS X as well as several desktop systems of variants of Unix and Linux). His 1968 demonstration of then-future computer technologies was later nicknamed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos The Mother of All Demos]<ref>https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1209</ref>.		Another noteworthy person who was clearly ahead of his time in the 60s was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart Douglas Engelbart] - the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse computer mouse] was first patented by him in 1963<ref>https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1633972.stm</ref> (but became widely used only in the 80s). He went on to develop [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext hypertext] (the most common example of the principle nowadays being the Web with its linked pages) and by 1968, an early [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface graphical user interface] (which is today used by all widely used computer systems, examples being MS Windows, Apple OS X as well as several desktop systems of variants of Unix and Linux). His 1968 demonstration of then-future computer technologies was later nicknamed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos The Mother of All Demos]<ref>https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1209</ref>.

Kaido.kikkas: /* Study & Write */

2022-01-20T19:50:44Z

Study & Write

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:50, 20 January 2022
Line 186:		Line 186:
	== Study & Write ==		== Study & Write ==

	Find three interesting examples of IT solutions (hardware, software, networking... the more exotic the better) from ''three different decades''' (e.g. 1970s, 1990s, 2010s) and introduce them in a blog post.		Find three interesting examples of IT solutions (hardware, software, networking... the more exotic the better) from ''three different decades'' (e.g. 1970s, 1990s, 2010s) and introduce them in a blog post.

Kaido.kikkas: /* Study & Write */

2022-01-20T19:50:23Z

Study & Write

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:50, 20 January 2022
Line 186:		Line 186:
	== Study & Write ==		== Study & Write ==

	Just like in other fields of technology, for each success story there is a couple of failures. Some of those were obviously bad, yet others had good ideas and interesting models which flopped for a variety of reasons. Find three interesting examples of the ~~latter cases~~ and ~~describe~~ them in a blog post.		Find three interesting examples of IT solutions (hardware, software, networking... the more exotic the better) from ''three different decades''' (e.g. 1970s, 1990s, 2010s) and introduce them in a blog post.

Kaido.kikkas at 19:46, 20 January 2022

2022-01-20T19:46:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:46, 20 January 2022
Line 107:		Line 107:
	In 1998, Microsoft releases its next operating system, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_98 Windows 98]. Apple returned to the spotlight with their [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac iMac], a novel design combining the case and the monitor of the personal computer. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandriva_Linux Mandrake] (later Mandriva) is the first [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution Linux distribution] specifically meant for desktop use (at first using mostly KDE as its environment). The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble] raised briefly the hopes of many people, but the dreams came true only for a small minority.		In 1998, Microsoft releases its next operating system, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_98 Windows 98]. Apple returned to the spotlight with their [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac iMac], a novel design combining the case and the monitor of the personal computer. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandriva_Linux Mandrake] (later Mandriva) is the first [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution Linux distribution] specifically meant for desktop use (at first using mostly KDE as its environment). The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble] raised briefly the hopes of many people, but the dreams came true only for a small minority.

	In the turn of the year 1999/2000, Microsoft released [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000 Windows 2000] - despite extensive promotion, the initial reception was somewhat disappointing<ref>https://www.zdnet.com/article/bugfest-win2000-has-63000-defects/</ref>, forcing the company to follow up with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_pack Service Pack 1] rather soon. Moreover, the desktop-oriented replacement for Windows 98, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Me Windows ME], has been considered by many the worst release of Windows<ref>https://www.pcworld.com/article/~~125772-2~~/~~the_25_worst_tech_products_of_all_time~~.html</ref>, forcing the company to speed up the development of the next release. However, the 2001 release of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP Windows XP], being one of the most successful releases, set the company back on the tracks.		In the turn of the year 1999/2000, Microsoft released [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000 Windows 2000] - despite extensive promotion, the initial reception was somewhat disappointing<ref>https://www.zdnet.com/article/bugfest-win2000-has-63000-defects/</ref>, forcing the company to follow up with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_pack Service Pack 1] rather soon. Moreover, the desktop-oriented replacement for Windows 98, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Me Windows ME], has been considered by many the worst release of Windows<ref>https://www.pcworld.com/article/535838/worst_products_ever.html</ref>, forcing the company to speed up the development of the next release. However, the 2001 release of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP Windows XP], being one of the most successful releases, set the company back on the tracks.

	The new century began well for Microsoft, having overcome the legal hassles and successfully released Windows XP and MS Office 2000. However, its competitors did not relax either - Apple developed their new Unix-based operating system family in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Os_x OS X], and for the first time, Linux software displayed more serious ambition on desktop as well - the WordPerfect Office 2000 was the first major office suite released for Linux among other platforms, and Sun started to distribute their freshly acquired [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarOffice StarOffice] 5.2 as a free download. Moreover, in late 2000 Sun split their StarOffice into a commercial offering of the same name and a community project title [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org] (nowadays distributed as Apache OpenOffice, but has recently been all but replaced by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice LibreOffice]), the latter becoming an usable solution in less than a year.		The new century began well for Microsoft, having overcome the legal hassles and successfully released Windows XP and MS Office 2000. However, its competitors did not relax either - Apple developed their new Unix-based operating system family in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Os_x OS X], and for the first time, Linux software displayed more serious ambition on desktop as well - the WordPerfect Office 2000 was the first major office suite released for Linux among other platforms, and Sun started to distribute their freshly acquired [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarOffice StarOffice] 5.2 as a free download. Moreover, in late 2000 Sun split their StarOffice into a commercial offering of the same name and a community project title [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org] (nowadays distributed as Apache OpenOffice, but has recently been all but replaced by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice LibreOffice]), the latter becoming an usable solution in less than a year.