C++:
First, there was programming. Then came structured programming. And then, with C++, came object oriented programming. Today, all mainstream languages implement the object-oriented way of writing code. To put it very simply, you associate actions to objects. These objects, once created are reusable across projects. One of the primary advantages of this method is that time required for writing code comes down drastically. C++ was written by Bjarn Stroustrup in 1983, and has attracted an increasing number of adherents since then, going strong even today.

PKZip:
The "PK" in PKZip stands for Philip Katz, the author of the program. PKZip was by no means the first compression utility. But when it was released in 1989, it soon became the most widely-used compression software, and the common name for compressed files – zip files comes from PKZip. PKZip owes its popularity to Katz’s decision to make his software widely available by distributing it as shareware.

PKZip missed the Windows bandwagon, with a Windows version coming out quite late in the day. This lead to WinZip becoming the defacto file compression utility for Windows.

Java:
When compiled programs seemed to have firmly established their ascendancy over slow interpreters, Java bucked the trend and went back to the days of interpreted languages. But simultaneously, Java also bucked the trend of writing platform-specific code and then going through the laborious process of porting it to other platforms. It held out the promise of code that could run on any platform, without any changes whatsoever. To the programming community still coming to grips with the profusion of Oss on the Net, Java was indeed a godsend. Today, Microsoft, with its .Net is trying to challenge Java, but there is no doubt that Java has indeed changed the way programming for the Net has evolved.

Lotus 1-2-3:
When the PC first came out, it was nothing more than a potential killer device waiting for the killer application – the application that would prove to the world its true potential, the application without which the PC would never have become the PC as we know it today. That killer application turned out to be Lotus 1-2-3. The "1-2-3" in the name stands for the three applications that were built into the product—namely spreadsheet, graphing, and database. It was programmed by Jonathan Sachs, and Mitch Kapor was the software designer.

Making its debut in 1983, two years after the advent of the PC, 1-2-3 proved that the PC could have more to it than the calculators that were its predecessor. For many years, 1-2-3, and Lotus ruled the roost. In fact. Lotus in those days was a major force to reckon with, with the company having major say even in PC specs, as is evidenced by the LIM (Lotus-Intel-Microsoft) specifications on expanded memory.

Linux:
A variant of Unix, Linux has been a joint effort of developers worldwide, who over a decade, built up a lean and sturdy OS that can take on the best that commercial vendors have to offer. The most significant of Linux’s many claims to fame is that it fueled a new paradigm in software development and distribution – the now-widespread Open Source movement.

Today, Linux poses a significant challenge to all other operating systems, both on the server and on the desktop, and is the fastest growing OS on the server. One of the reasons why it’s able to throw an across-the-board challenge is that it’s been ported to almost all hardwae platforms available, including the latest as well as the most esoteric.

E-mail and Instant messaging:
If the browser is what brought the wonders of the Internet alive to millions of users, it is email that unleashed the potential that the net promised –instantaneous and cheap communication. Email was the killer application on the net till instant messaging came along, and replaced the near instantaneous communication offered by email witha instantaneous communication to anywhere across the globe at the cost of a local call.

Together with SMS, Email and instant messaging has changed the way we communicate, and our lives like never before. They have even brought in a completely new vocabulary into the language

Windows ’95:
When we talk of Windows, we normally mean Windows for the personal desktop, currently WinXP. But there are many other versions too. There’s the server version – originally called Win NT, which then became Windows 2000 Server, and is now poised to become the Windows.Net server.

On the desktop, Windows has built up a dominant mind and market share. This started happening with Windows 95. The switchover from Windows 3.11, which had to be installed over DOS, to Windows 95, with its better GUI stability and ease of use, along with the advent of powerful Pentium class processors from Intel is what heralded the advent of home computing.

Netscape Navigator:
Mosaic was the first Web browser to provide a graphical front-end for browsing the Internet. But Netscape is solely responsible for making the first of many million people hook on to the World Wide Web. Netscape started to add new features to the browser at such a furious pace that Mosaic was soon left far behind. Anyway, for a long time, Netscape Navigator, as it was known then (it became the Communicator subsequently, with Navigator being one of the components) was the only Web browser that was available to users, although most had to pay for it. Later, as it faced competition from IE, Navigator also became free, and still later, even the source code was made open, with Mozilla becoming an opensource effort to create an entirely new browser starting off with the original Netscape code. Netscape as a company does not exist anymore, and Navigator has become a minor browser in the larger game. But no-one can deny its rightful place in computing history—as the browser that opened the floodgates to the Internet.

The Future Belongs to Them...<