A Year Ago: 1997 In Review
Our step by step guide to what went on when in 1997
January
The year began with huge merger news: after being linked with startup Be, Apple said it planned to buy Steve Jobs' Next.
The first Pentium MMX PCs began to appear.
Macro viruses were on the rampage.
DRAM prices were jumping up.
Troubled Italian giant Olivetti sold its PC operation.
Compaq released a sub-£1,000 server, sparking a host of imitators, and said it planned to be the world's number three computer company by the year 2000.
Microsoft started the big IE 4.0 striptease.
Samsung said it planned to buy AST.
February
Andrew Grove joined the illustrious chorus of experts telling us Europe is behind the US in IT
The 56Kbps modems picture was beginning to get even nastier.
3Com said it was to purchase US Robotics, just one of several networking mergers and acquisitions.
March
56Kbps modems began to ship in numbers.
Microsoft and Intel led the bandwagon announcing the Net PC.
Intel sued Cyrix and AMD over the MMX nomenclature
April
AMD's K6 arrived.
Microsoft detailed PC98... and bought WebTV Networks.
On a lighter note, a tech mag fell for Tosh's left-handed notebook.
May
The first mention of 14.1-inch screen notebooks.
Just another instalment in a long-running squabble: Symantec accused McAfee of code theft.
Intel released 'Klamath', the Pentium II.
Digital sued Intel over chip patents.
Apple offloaded its Newton unit
Compaq planned to go direct
June
Microsoft said it would invest in Cambridge University to boost R&D
Hacker Kevin Mitnick got 22 months.
Research said 72 per cent of Web users hit on porn sites
Microsoft's presence in the UK Java Forum caused a rumpus.
AOL went flat rate.
July
Ascend and Cascade completed their merger.
Year 2000 bug frenzy was building.
A guy shot a PC.
Nat Semi bought Cyrix.
August
Viglen floated.
Tosh went into desktops.
Intel shipped the 440LX chipset.
September
Apple moved the goalposts on Mac cloners
AOL, CompuServe and WorldCom teamed up in a three-way deal
October
Microsoft and Viglen said they will jointly badge a home PC.
Hungry McAfee bought Network General
Sun sued Microsoft over Java 'abuse'
November
BBC launched a news Web site
Apple said it planned to sell direct
Cabletron said it would buy Digital networks business.
IBM plans to pioneer the sub-£1K PII PC
December
Intel leaked its 333MHz Deschutes plans
Labour did Microsoft a favour