with the office using a computer was a desirable op-
tion for their employees. As local Internet service
providers (ISPs) proliferated, and as the speed of
the Internet connections increased, telecommuting
became a popular work option for many employees,
with more than 10 million people working this way
by 1997.
The development of Java by Bill Joy of Sun
Microsystems in 1995 was an important step in the
movement toward a connected world. Java actually
includes a virtual computer and rudimentary oper-
ating system that was designed specifically to sup-
port programming small systems such as cell
phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and intel-
ligent home appliances. Largely in response to the
success of Java, Microsoft released its .Net architec-
ture in 2000. Java- and .Net-enabled Web sites have
improved Web applications, with one of the most fa-
mous examples being Bill Gate’s connected house,
which was completed in the late 1990’s.
Other developments in the 1990’s that led to a
more connected world included the explosive growth
of the World Wide Web and e-commerce. Amazon
.com officially opened in July, 1995, as an online
bookseller and by 1996 was a successful e-business. In
1995, eBay began as an online auction and over the
remainder of the 1990’s established the new and
highly successful online auction business model. In
1996, Google was started by Sergey Brin and Larry
Page and over the 1990’s became the premier search
engine on the Web. In fact, by 2000 Google was chal-
lenging the Microsoft Network (MSN) for preemi-
nence as a portal.
Software One of the most important software de-
velopments during the 1990’s was the emergence of
Microsoft Office as the dominant productivity soft-
ware. The incorporation of the Access database
management system on Office 2000 for the PC and
Office 2001 for the Macintosh gave Microsoft almost
the entire market for productivity software at that
time. Graphics software also improved during the
decade, with Adobe, Macromedia, Pixar, and Silicon
Graphics each adding or improving its graphical
software. Computer security software became an im-
portant product, with Symantec becoming a leader
when it purchased Norton in 1990. When IBM
acquired Lotus in 1995, it moved to make Lotus
Notes the premier corporate e-mail program, while
Microsoft’s Outlook Express became the most popu-
lar e-mail program for home users with its inclusion
in Windows 98.
Development of Web design software exploded
during the 1990’s. Many Web development tools
appeared, including Macromedia’s Dreamweaver
(1997) and Microsoft’s FrontPage (1996). The Web
servers Apache and Microsoft’s Internet Informa-
tion Server (IIS) were introduced in the 1990’s and
dominated the Web server market in the 2000’s.
While Java was initially designed for embedded sys-
tems programming, the Java Web applet became
very popular as a way to make Web pages more inter-
active, and it popularized the Java programming lan-
guage. Many programmers began using Java to de-
velop Windows and UNIX applications toward the
end of the 1990’s, and a number of companies, in-
cluding Adobe and IBM, made a commitment to
Java applications programming. In 2000, Microsoft
introduced the .Net architecture as its answer to
Java, with several important programming lan-
guages, including its popular Visual Basic. As the
Web became increasingly important in the late
1990’s, a new programming model, based on Web
services, was introduced.Impact In the 1990’s, chip and hard disk technol-
ogy greatly improved, resulting in microcomputers
becoming more powerful than the best workstations
of the 1980’s. The popular mainframes of the 1980’s
all but disappeared, being replaced by a client-server
model of computing, based on powerful applica-
tions and database servers supporting individuals,
using microcomputers. The Internet matured in the
1990’s, as the World Wide Web created a dynamic
method of disseminating information and doing
business.Further Reading
Campbell-Kelly, Martin, and William Aspray.Com-
puter: A Histor y of the Information Machine. New
York: Basic Books, 1996. A short but engrossing
history of computers.
Hiltzik, Michael.Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and
the Dawn of the Computer Age. New York: Harper-
Collins, 1999. A thorough coverage of the devel-
opments at the Xerox PARC labs.
Ralston, Anthony, Edwin D. Reilly, and David
Hemmendinger, eds.Encyclopedia of Computer Sci-
ence. 4th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
One of the standard reference works in its field.218 Computers The Nineties in America