• Netscape Navigator browser launches, popularizing websurfing.
• JPEG image format begins lighting up the web with online imagery.
  Early online shopping sites (eBay, Amazon) launch, bringing e-commerce into the mainstream.
  

• Microsoft releases Windows 95, drastically improving personal computing interfaces and internet accessibility.
• Java programming language is introduced, enabling cross-platform web applications.
• DVDs start to see development, setting the stage for digital home video.

• USB (Universal Serial Bus) standardizes connectionsfor computer peripherals.
• Palm Pilot debuts as a pioneering handheld personal digital assistant (PDA).
• MP3 audio format emerges, revolutionizing digital music distribution.
  

• IBM’s Deep Blue defeats world chess champion Garry Kasparov, demonstrating advances in AI (1997).
• Google is founded, rapidly altering how people access information online.

• Windows 98 released, further integrating internet features.
• iMac G3 introduced, popularizing USB and more stylish computer design.

• File-sharing service Napster launches, transforming music consumption.
• Wi-Fi (wireless networking) becomes widely available.
• The world is gearing up for THE END and we partied like it was 1999!

Next up, Y2K!

Analysts warned that the millennium bug⁺ could inflict catastrophic financial harm, with estimates ranging from hundreds of millions to well over half a trillion dollars in potential losses. The uncertainty was so great that panic spread beyond boardrooms—ordinary people began hoarding food, water, and weapons, installing backup generators, and even emptying bank accounts, bracing for what many feared would be a computer‑driven collapse of modern society.

We're still here.

^{+The bug was caused by a common programming practice in which only the last two digits of the year were stored in order to save memory and processing power. This meant that when the year 2000 arrived, computers would interpret it as 1900.}

New Years came and went, the world continued as before.

• Apple releases the first iPod, beginning the shift toward digital music libraries.
• Microsoft launched the XBox console.
• Google introduced Google Earth.
• Microsoft released Internet Explorer 6.

• Microsoft launched Windows XP, which quickly became the OS of choice for many people.
• The introduction of USB flash drives and portable hard drives enabled people to transport data without the need for floppy disks or CDs
• One of the most significant technological breakthroughs in 2002 was the rise of wireless connectivity, allowing people to access the internet without being confined to a stationary desktop computer.

• Friendster launched in March.
• Myspace launched in August.
• Skype, the video calling service, was launched.
• Microsoft released Windows Server 2003.
• The Blu-ray optical disc format debuted, intended as a successor to DVDs for
  high-definition video storage.
• Apple released the PowerMac G5, the first 64-bit Macintosh personal computer.

• Facebook launches, changing social interaction and online sharing.
• Mozilla Firefox browser debuts, giving new options and security to web users.
• Linux Kernel 2.6: The Linux kernel was released, allowing for larger workloads and greater memory and storage handling. These advancements laid the foundation for the technologies we use today, influencing everything from web browsers to social media platforms and gaming to AI.
  

• YouTube was founded, making online video sharing ubiquitous.
• Reddit came online.

• Twitter launches, introducing microblogging and real-time social communication.

• Apple introduces the iPhone, defining the modern smart phone era.
  
• Amazon Kindle is launched, catalyzing e-book adoption.

• Google unveils Android, allowing wide adoption ofopen-source mobile operating systems.
  
• The App Store creates a new software distribution model for mobile devices.
  

• Minecraft hits the market.
• Bitcoin is introduced.

• Apple launches the iPad, sparking the tablet computer trend.
• Cloud technology shifted from experimental and niche to a mainstream business tool.
  
  

• Lenovo releases the first ThinkPad X1.
• The first Chromebooks, by Acer and Samsung, go on sale.

• Microsoft releases the operating system Windows 8.
• Nintendo releases the WII U in North America.

• Apple releases the iPhone 5s, which the company proclaimed to be the first 64 bit processor to be used on a smartphone.

• The first 8 terabyte (TB) hard drive is released by Seagate.
• Intel unveiled its first eight-core desktop processor, the Intel Core i7-5960X.

• The first 8 terabyte (TB) hard drive is released by Seagate.
• Intel unveiled its first eight-core desktop processor, the Intel Core i7-5960X.

• AI continues to grow.
• ChatGPT was released
• iPhone 14 was introduced
• Microsoft announced that it's discontinuing the Internet Explorer browser after 25 years.
• Amazon Alexa retired.
  

• Microsoft releases the operating system Windows 10.
  

• Microsoft releases the operating system Windows 10.
• A widespread panic erupted around the "Momo Challenge," a social media hoax claiming that teenagers' accounts were being hacked to display a creepy, bulging-eyed character named Momo, who allegedly encouraged life-threatening challenges.

• Fixstars Solutions releases the world's first 13 TB SSD.

A year to be forgotten.

While the world washed its hands and covered its coughs, software to enable work from home became HUGE.

Polution cleared. Used car prices shot up due to lack of new vehicle availability. Supply chains suffered. Folks hoarded toilet paper. Store shelves were often empty. The real heroes of our lives shone, with the advent of essential workers. Who cares about what happened with tech anyway?

• The WannaCry ransomware targeted Windows systems worldwide, encrypting data and demanding Bitcoin ransoms.

• The "WannaCry" ransomware crypto worm launched a global cyberattack targeting computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system. It encrypted data on these systems and demanded ransom payments in Bitcoin cryptocurrency.