Maximum PC - UK (2019-12)

THE NEW CENTURY would start with

Windows 2000 (arguably the best

release of Windows) and Windows

Me (arguably the worst). Win 2000

was based on Microsoft’s NT

platform, finally moving Windows

away from DOS, while remaining

mostly backward compatible with

Windows 9x and DOS programs.

2000 had the stability of NT and the

minimal aesthetic of the 9x series,

without the bloat of future releases.

Later in the year, Microsoft

released Windows Me (Millennium

Edition)—still based on Windows

9x, which was still based on DOS.

Often regarded as Microsoft’s

worst operating system, it

somehow managed to be buggier

and less refined than previous 9x

releases. Whereas Windows 2000

is remembered as an underrated

gem, Windows Me brings cold

shivers down the spines of IT staff

who lived through that scary time.

October 2001 saw the release

of Windows XP, using the same

NT base as 2000, with a revamped

interface, and improved multimedia

capabilities. While previous

versions of Windows were pretty

drab, XP was colorful. XP made

piracy much harder, being the first

Windows to have an activation

scheme. The mix of relative stability

and a friendly GUI made XP one of

the most popular OSes of all time.

Microsoft kept having to extend

support for XP, right up until 2014,

when it officially cut the cord.

Despite this, there are still plenty of

XP users, spreading digital disease

across the Internet.

PLATFORM SHAKE-UPS

In April 2003, AMD released its 64-

bit Opteron processor. This was

the first major change to the x86

platform not made by Intel, and

would be labeled either x86-64 or,

embarrassingly for Intel, AMD64.

Intel was forced into the position

of modifying its processors for

software compatibility with AMD’s

new specification. Although it would

take a few years for the new spec

to catch on, it would eventually

become the standard in use today.

In May 2005, IBM sold its PC

division to Lenovo in a deal worth

nearly $2 billion. As part of the

deal, IBM would acquire a stake

in Lenovo, and sell Lenovo goods

under a marketing alliance—

existing lines like the famous IBM

ThinkPad laptops would be sold

as Lenovo ThinkPads. Skepticism

was high over the viability of such

a merger but Lenovo went on to

become the biggest PC vendor in

the world, while IBM would focus on

big-data markets and the cloud.

In June 2005, Apple announced

that Macs would switch from

PowerPC to x86 processors.

Steve Jobs was disappointed in

the progress of PowerPC CPUs,

which were slower than Apple had

promised consumers, too hot for

laptops, and consumed too much

power. Although the market was

concerned, the Intel machines

were faster than their PowerPC

counterparts, and sales increased.

Between July and October 2006,

AMD bought out graphics company

ATI Technologies in a deal worth

$5.6 billion. Merging ATI’s graphics

tech with its existing CPU know-

how, AMD was now taking on the

might of both Intel and Nvidia with

BEYOND 2000

Microsoft totally

dominates the

start of the

millennium, but

this decade

ends elsewhere

In February 2012,

the successful

Raspberry Pi was

released, taking

the industry by

storm with a new

form factor, often

referred to as

a single board

computer (SBC).

Made in Britain

from a combination

of cell phone and

desktop parts, the

Pi is barely larger

than a credit card,

for $35. The Pi was

intended to get

kids programming

after the Raspberry

Pi Foundation

recognized a

national decrease

in programming

skills, but it became

more popular with

hobby builders

and the embedded

computing industry.

Unfortunately

for PC giants, the

Pi ran Linux on an

ARM CPU instead

of Windows on x86.

Due to its popularity,

Microsoft ported

Windows to the

system a few

years later, and

manufacturers

started producing

rival machines. For

the ARM crowd,

there are products

like the Asus Tinker

Boards or Pine 64’s

RockPro64. For the

x86 crowd, there are

products like the

Atomic Pi and the

LattePanda series.

ARM boards are

generally cheaper

and more efficient,

while x86 boards

can often run

regular builds of

Windows or Linux.

The Raspberry Pi Revolution

In spite of imitations, the Raspberry Pi

still sets the standard and has spawned

an entire cottage industry of add-ons.

After 2007’s iPhone, Apple shifted industry focus to portable devices,

becoming the world’s biggest company in 2012.

the history of the PC

48 MAXIMUMPC DEC 2019 maximumpc.com