This Month in Computing History: August Edition
A look back at the groundbreaking launches, corporate moves, and tech milestones that shaped the digital world.
1. August 1, 1989. Microsoft Releases Office for Mac
Before becoming a staple on Windows, Microsoft officially released the very first version of the Microsoft Office suite specifically for the Apple Macintosh. It bundled Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into a single retail package.
2. August 3, 1977. Radio Shack Announces the TRS-80
Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 Microcomputer at a press conference in New York City. Selling for $599 (including a monitor and cassette recorder), it became one of the first mass produced, pre assembled microcomputers aimed at consumers, alongside the Apple II and Commodore PET.
3. August 6, 1997. Microsoft Invests $150 Million in Apple
During Macworld in Boston, Steve Jobs announced that Microsoft had made a $150 million non voting investment in Apple to help save the struggling company. As part of the deal, Microsoft agreed to support Office on Mac for five years, while Apple made Internet Explorer the default browser on Mac OS.
4. August 8, 1995. Netscape Goes Public
Netscape Communications Corporation went public on NASDAQ. Expected to price at $14 per share, the stock opened at $28 and spiked as high as $75 on its first day. Netscape’s IPO is widely viewed as the spark that triggered the late 1990s “Dot Com Boom.”
5. August 9, 1991. The First Email from Space
Astronauts Shannon Lucid and James C. Adamson aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-43) used an Apple Macintosh Portable to send the first ever email from space using the AppleLink online service. The message read:
“Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space... Hasta la vista, baby, we'll be back!”
6. August 11, 1950. Steve Wozniak's Birthday
Computer engineer Steve Wozniak was born on this day in San Jose, California. “Woz” single handedly designed and built the Apple I and Apple II computers in the mid 1970s, establishing the foundation of Apple Inc. and pioneering personal computing design.
7. August 12, 1981. Debut of the IBM Personal Computer (Model 5150)
IBM officially introduced the IBM PC Model 5150, powered by an Intel 8088 CPU and running MS DOS 1.0 / IBM BASIC. By using off the shelf hardware components, IBM established the standard “IBM PC compatible” architecture that shaped the personal desktop market for decades.
8. August 21, 1997. Carmageddon Ban Controversy
In late August 1997, the controversial racing game Carmageddon hit major headlines after being censored or outright banned in several countries due to its graphic depictions of running over pedestrians. Developers famously released localized versions swapping human pedestrians with green blooded zombies or robots to pass censorship boards.
9. August 24, 1995. Microsoft Launches Windows 95
Microsoft officially released Windows 95 accompanied by a massive, multi-million-dollar global marketing campaign featuring the Rolling Stones’ song “Start Me Up.” It revolutionized the PC desktop experience by introducing the Start menu, the taskbar, and native 32-bit architecture.
10. August 25, 1991. Linus Torvalds Announces Linux
21-year-old Finnish university student Linus Torvalds posted a famous message to the comp.os.minix Usenet group:
“I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones...”
This announcement marked the beginning of the open-source Linux kernel, which today powers supercomputers, cloud infrastructure, and billions of mobile devices worldwide via Android.
11. August 27, 1990. Cyrix Ships Its First Coprocessor
Cyrix began shipping its FasMath math coprocessors (CX-83D87) to the market. Designed to be pin compatible with Intel's 80387, it offered up to 50% faster floating point performance at a lower price, kicking off a decade long rivalry with Intel in the x86 processor market.
12. August 29, 1996. QuakeWorld Released
Id Software released QuakeWorld, an update to Quake specifically designed to optimize network code for multiplayer over dial-up internet connections. It introduced client side prediction, which fundamentally changed online first-person shooters by making fast-paced internet multiplayer playable on standard modems.