DECEMBER 2007 MAXIMUMPC 23
100
MICROSOFT
SOLITAIRE (1 99 2) Laugh,
but Microsoft’s own website has more
than 1,400 pages devoted to the ubiq-
uitous Windows game (introduced in
Windows 3.0). You know you play it.99
APC UNINTERRUPTIBLE
POWER SUPPLY (1984) That
beeping? It’s the sound of you happily
continuing your game of Wizardry while
your neighbor reads by candlelight.98
COOLER MASTER ATC-
(2000) Would people really shell
out more than $200 for a box that merely
stores their PC’s innards? Cooler Master
proved that cases need not be boring and
started the trend in fashionable enclosures
with this aluminum beaut.97
CONTROL-ALT-DELETE (1981)
We resort to the three-fi nger
salute so often that the print is wearing
off of these three keys on our
keyboard. Serenity
now!96 SKYPE (2003)
VoIP existed long before this app
came around, but Skype made Internet
telephony easy enough for the average
user. Free phone calls to Indonesia—yeah!95
FRONT PANEL CONNECTIONS
(2001) A big attaboy to the guy
who thought of putting USB and headphone
jacks on the front of the PC instead of only
on the back. Flashlight use is down 30 per-
cent since their introduction.94 MICROSOFT NATURAL
KEYBOARD (1994) Many users found
the split MS Natural keyboard awkward for
typing, but a generation of carpal tunnel suf-
ferers discovered that the ergonomic design
was just what the doctor ordered.93
CONNECTIX QUICKCAM (1995)
While the webcam has been used
for some dubious purposes (Editor in Chief
Will Smith uses one to watch his dog ), the
idea behind it—to stream pictures and video
to the Internet with cheap
hardware—is a decent one.
We think.92
MOZILLA FIREFOX (2004)
It’s the open-source browser
you know and love. Firefox regularly
implements new features ahead of
Internet Explorer, while also eating away
at the latter’s market share.THE GREATEST
Over the years, these essential
innovations have changed
the way we use our PCs
BY THE MAXIMUM PC STAFFS
ure, we love iPods, TiVo, and fancy-schmancy digi-
tal cameras, just like everyone else. But let’s talk
about advances that make a difference where it
really counts: in the PC.
While myriad best-of lists have ranked the greatest gad-
gets, software products, and videogames ever made, here we
turn our attention to advances that have impacted the develop-
ment, enjoyment, and raw power of the personal computer.
Our staff-generated list looks at not just critical machines to
come down the pike (#55), but also essential CPUs (#51), oper-
ating systems (#15), components (#18), and peripherals (#94),
as well as the occasional piece of software (#74) and video-game (#9) that pushed PCs into new territory.
The result is an exhaustive look at the PC from its birth
(#7)—and even its conception (#73)—to today (#71), piece by
piece. Naturally, the list is skewed toward performance and
gaming-oriented technologies. We respect WordStar as much
as any high-tech historian, but you try typing a corporate
memo when you’ve got a freakin’ Shub-Niggurath (#6) bearing
down on your ass.
So join us on a stroll through PC history and tip your hat
to the technologies large and small that have either endured
for decades or changed the game completely. As always, we
anxiously await your complaints over what we forgot.