1996
Netscape licenses Java and upgrades its Web browser to support Java applications. So does Microsoft.

IBM releases OS/2 for the PowerPC, OS/2 Warp Server, and OS/2 Warp 4.0. Since Windows for Workgroups is now a thing of the past, IBM now has more types of OS/2 than Microsoft has flavors of Windows.

Microsoft announces Windows CE for handheld devices. The CE stands for consumer electronics--a fact that Microsoft will no doubt deny in years to come.

Windows Magazine refers to the next version of Windows (codename Memphis) as Windows 97. The math is slightly off.

1997
Microsoft buys WebTV and invests $1 billion in ComCast cable network. Televisions running Windows are expected before too long.

Sun Microsystems takes legal action against Microsoft for shipping Internet Explorer 4.0 with a nonstandard implementation of Java.

Apple gives its short-lived new president Gil Amelio $7 million to go away--then brings back Steve Jobs to head things up. His first major step: Apple rescinds its operating system licenses in an action described by one as "killing the clones." The sole legal source of systems running Mac OS is now Apple. The company celebrates by shipping System 8, which sports improved multitasking, Internet access, multimedia, and other items from the Windows 95 checklist.

As part of its ongoing investigation into Microsoft's allegedly monopolistic practices, the Justice Department gives Microsoft grief because it includes Internet Explorer as part of the Windows 95 package. In a masterly PR coup, the company removes an icon from the Windows 95 desktop, and everyone comes away a winner. Coincidentally, the company has integrated the browser interface even more tightly with its upcoming Windows 98 release.

1998
The legal action against Microsoft continues. Bill Gates is summoned to Washington, D.C., to confront Sen. Orrin Hatch and other industry luminaries.

Gates, Sun's McNealy, and Netscape's Barksdale on Capitol Hill.

In a counteroffensive, Gates publishes diary entries in his online magazine Slate. Day 1's entry describes what he did over the weekend before he was due to confront the firing squad: he attended the annual Microsoft executive retreat. On the agenda, a discussion of the four toughest challenges facing the company. Among them: "How should we communicate the benefits about all the new products we bring out in the next year, including NT 5.0?"

Windows 98 is finally released. It sports a few features that distinguish it from Windows 95: it enables you to buy new TV tuner cards and watch TV on your computer. The new Active Desktop still integrates the browser directly with the OS (despite user polls that show that most people don't want this feature). The courts set a date in September to see if this tactic is legal, even though the OS ships on June 25.