Editing Timeline of computing 1990–1999 (section)

==1996==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
| 1996
| [[Nokia]] released the [[Nokia 9000]], the first of Nokia's smartphones.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nokia 8 hopes to beat Apple and Samsung with 'bothie', a new version of the selfie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/16/nokia-8-bothie-flagship-android-smartphone-apple-samsung|website=The Guardian|access-date=21 September 2017|date=16 August 2017}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1996
| ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' released – representing the dramatic increases in both software and hardware technology since ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'', of three years prior.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=How 'Quake' Changed Video Games Forever|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/how-quake-changed-video-games-forever-20160622|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=June 22, 2016|access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref> Other notable releases included ''[[Civilization 2]]'', ''[[Tomb Raider]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Berger|first1=Arthur Asa|title=Video Games: A Popular Culture Phenomenon|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351299947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJsuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|page=58|language=en}}</ref> ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert]]''<ref>{{cite magazine|title=How 'Command & Conquer: Red Alert' Changed Strategy Games Forever|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/how-command-conquer-red-alert-changed-strategy-games-w448186|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=21 September 2017|archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213081311/http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/how-command-conquer-red-alert-changed-strategy-games-w448186|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''[[Grand Prix Manager 2]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Prix Manager 2 for Windows (1996)|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/grand-prix-manager-2|website=MobyGames|access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref> On the more controversial front ''[[Battlecruiser 3000AD]]'' was also released, but its advertising had to be censored.
|- valign="top"
| rowspan="2" | January
| [[Netscape Navigator|Netscape Navigator 2.0]] released. First browser to support [[JavaScript]].
|- valign="top"
|Windows 95 OSR2 (OEM System Release 2) was released{{snd}}partly to fix bugs found in release 1{{snd}}but only to computer retailers for sale with new systems. There were actually two separate releases of Windows 95 OSR2 before the introduction of Windows 98, the second of which contained both USB and FAT32 support{{snd}}the main selling points of Windows 98. FAT32 is a new filing system that provides support for disk partitions bigger than 2.1&nbsp;GB and is better at coping with large disks (especially in terms of wasted space).
|- valign="top"
| January 4
| Intel released Pentium processor, 150 and 166&nbsp;MHz versions.
|- valign="top"
| April 17
| [[Toshiba]] released the [[Toshiba Libretto|Libretto]] sub-notebook. With a volume of 821.1&nbsp;cm<sup>3</sup> and a weight of just 840 g, it was the smallest [[PC compatible]] computer to be released at that time.
|- valign="top"
| June 9
| Linux 2.0 released and it was a significant improvement over the earlier versions: it was the first to support multiple architectures (originally developed for the Intel 386 processor, it now supported Digital's Alpha architecture and would very soon support the SPARC architecture, and many others). It was also the first stable kernel to support SMP, kernel modules, and much more.
|- valign="top"
| July 4
| [[Hotmail]], founded by [[Sabeer Bhatia]] and [[Jack Smith (Hotmail)|Jack Smith]], is commercially launched on [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] in the United States, symbolically representing ''freedom'' from [[Internet service provider]]s. (Hotmail is now owned and operated by [[Microsoft]]; it is rebranded as [[Outlook.com]] in 2013.)
|- valign="top"
| July 14
| The first public release of [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]], version 2.1 for Windows.<ref name="Affiliated">{{cite web |year=2006 |title=Affiliated Organization of Firefox and Mozilla |url=http://www.foxkeh.com/downloads/history/history-original.pdf |access-date=5 September 2010 |website=Mozilla Japan |publisher=[[Mozilla Foundation]]}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| September 23
| Audio Highway announced the Listen Up player, the first [[MP3]] [[digital audio player]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Audio+Highway+Announces+the+Listen+UP+Player+--+A+New+Device+that...-a018696161 |title=Audio Highway Announces the Listen UP Player -- A New Device that Delivers Personalized Audio Content to Information-Hungry, On-the-Go Consumers - Free Online Library |access-date=January 3, 2011 |archive-date=January 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106023703/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Audio+Highway+Announces+the+Listen+UP+Player+--+A+New+Device+that...-a018696161 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was later released in September 1997.
|- valign="top"
| October 6
| Intel releases a 200&nbsp;MHz version of the Pentium processor.
|- valign="top"
| November
| [[Telecom Italia]] released TIM Card, the first prepaid card for cellular phones in the world; designed by [[CSELT]].
|- valign="top"
| December
| id Software releases QuakeWorld, a version of Quake designed for Internet multiplayer games. Several innovative{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} features such as movement prediction make the game playable even over low-speed and high-latency Internet connections.
|}