History of software How have computer programs evolved and what have been those that have marked an era?

Software represents all the intangible of a computer. If you want to know more about the history of software, how computer programs have evolved, and which have been those that have marked an eracontinue reading.

It was in the year 1935 when Alan Turing spokein his essay on computable numbersfrom the first theory about software as a process for decision making.

Nevertheless, it was not until 1958 that John W. Tukey used the term for the first time. Opening the way to a new era for computer and technological development in the world.

How has software evolved throughout history? Timeline

The term “Software” literally translates to “soft merchandise.” However, over the years it has acquired a global meaning: Set of instructions that computers must follow to perform tasks. the industry of software has evolved throughout historyso we bring you one timeline to know the most relevant facts.

Let’s see below:

First stage (1950-1965)

In its early days, the software was worked under the concept of “Codify and correct”. During its infancy as a computer element, there was no prior approach or documentation of any kind for its development. For this reason, there were very few formal or credible methods for creating an ideal product. everything was designed based on trial and error.

At the time two conferences were held by the NATO science committee which, it is considered, was the initial impulse in the field of software. The design of the software was tailored, since its own developers were the ones who used it. for the same reason its distribution was quite limited at that time.

Second stage (1965-1972)

In the second stage the search for the simplification of the codes was taken as a priority. In search of expanding the dimensions of software, multiprogramming software and multi-user systems also appeared, as well as real-time systems that favored decision-making. It is at this point that the software officially appears on the market as a product for sale.

However, it also marked the beginning of the so-called “software crisis”, which was in charge of identifying software development problems, both in terms of productivity and quality, due to the enormous maintenance costs. For this reason, as a consequence of the severe property damage that was generated, we sought to develop more stable and concise procedures for software development.

Third stage (1972-1989)

For the next few years, before the 1990s, companies and researchers worked hard to solve the software crisis. At this time, the costs of maintaining and owning the software had even surpassed the cost of developing the software. This rise led to devising the concept of “Distributed systems”, and incorporate the first elements of artificial intelligence.

The third stage was also characterized by the low hardware cost, and the great impact of its consumption. However, what really marked this era was the emergence of local and global area networks, which led to the development of digital communications, and to the widespread use of microprocessors. In addition to having the opportunity to plan in the software development process.

Fourth stage (1989-2000)

With the arrival of the 90s, the rise of the Internet caused the demand for information systems to increase. For this period, Web browsers, multimedia content, email addresses, search engines, and powerful desktop systems emerged. Much software-related technology was developed with the aim of creating multi-language systems to work with foreign languages ​​on an international level, thus achieving a Client/Server environment.

Fifth stage (2000-today)

The need for low cost softwaremotivated by the immense demand from small organizations and businesses, led to the development of simpler and faster methodologies to design profitable and functional software. Many areas of engineering have been simplified to small, reliable software systems. Focus began to be given to the reuse of information and software components to develop faster ones.

List of the software classics that marked an era and that you have surely used at some time

The The arrival of the Internet represented a great impact on the world and on globalization. With the development of new methodologies for software development, the first programs for computers emerged.

We present a list of the software classics that marked an era and that you have surely used at some time:

Netscape Navigator

Developed by Netscape Communications in 1994, was one of the first web browsers released to the market. It was Internet Explorer’s main competition. However, his popularity was not enough to overcome his opponent. Not in vain, Netscape was extremely important for the time, since it was present in the vast majority of computers of the few people who had an Internet connection. Also, after his fall in 2008its developers began to create Mozilla Firefox.

MS-DOS

Its initials are the initials of Microsoft Disk Operating System. It is a pioneering operating system. In the 1990s, it used to be pre-installed on the vast majority of computers. It was the main software through which it was possible to have obtain basic human-computer interaction. To work with it, it was necessary to enter commands, coming from a list of commands through the keyboard. There are two types of commands: The interns or residents, and the external ones.

Windows 95

Windows 95 was an operating system developed by Microsoft., as a successor to the unsuccessful Windows 3.1. It was released in the middle of 1995, and its many improvements compared to its previous versions earned it immense popularity among consumers. It was characterized as a hybrid system of 16 and 32 bits.

Its launch was massively publicized. Even featured the participation of the Rolling Stones in its TV commercials. This and much more made him a resounding sales success. filed higher performance features and quality multimedia functions.

Linux

GNU/Linux is an operating system that began to take shape in 1984. This project is characterized by being a free Unix-type operating system, designed to be a multi-user and multitasking system. Their kernel is called Linux, and this is the name by which most users know it today.

There are many programmers who have worked voluntarily in the development of GNU/Linux, given its nature of SWfree firmware. However, the Free Software Foundation have been the ones who have contributed the most to its evolution. Linux users have more freedom when choosing which programs to use, desktop environments and command lines.

Mac OS Classic

The Mac OS Classic is as the Macintosh Classic was also known, a personal computer developed by Apple Computer. It was released on the market at the end of 1990, and caused quite a stir as it was the first Apple product to sell for less than €1,000.

Its low cost was due to the slowness of its processor, which could only process text, database and spreadsheets. It was a fairly popular computer in the educational sector thanks to its accessibility, since represented an excellent opportunity to use it as educational software. However, it was not as loved by the rest of the consumers.

Windows 98

Windows 98 was a improved version of its predecessor Windows 95. Like the operating system before it, Windows 98 was a hybrid 16-bit and 32-bit system. It was launched on the market in 1998, and had new hardware controllers. It also had a FAT32 file system, which made it a much faster software when it comes to storing data efficiently. A great peculiarity is that used less system resources when executing programs.

WordPerfect

It’s a word processing software which was released in 1980. At the time, it became the main means of writing documents, replacing typewriters. It was characterized by not needing proprietary hardware to function. It only required compatible software. It was one of the first word processors to hit the market. For its part, one of the most representative aspects is that it allowed the user to view the file as it would be printed.

Kazaa

Kazaa Media Desktop It was one of the first programs to exchange files between users. It used a FastTrack protocol, to ease the load on the servers that support the network. Kazaa was mostly used to download movies and music. However, its popularity was in decline given the multiple demands received by its developers for copyright. In 2012, its website was permanently deactivated.

MS Office

microsoft-office it’s a suite of highly versatile office programs. Its first release was in 1989 for Mac computers. Later in 1990 a version for Windows would come out. Basically, it allows you automate and improve the performance of office tasks thanks to the tools it provides for better performance. It allows you to import and export graphics, formula results, texts, mathematical operations and much more, between the different applications that make up the MS Office package.

winamp

It was a player launched in 1997, which offered innovative features such as ability to create playlists and be able to resort to random playback. Its intuitive interface made it a widely popular software. It was originally free, although later it became a subscription payment program. Its goal was to become a kind of online radio platform. However, it was not achieved.

Nero BurningROM

Regarding Nero Burning ROM or popularly recognized as Nero, it is a software that provides tools dedicated to burning optical discs. Initially that was his only goal.

However, as new formats came onto the market, the program began to incorporate tools that would allow it to work with the new recording units. Currently, Nero was in charge of add specialized functions for format conversionplayback of files such as photos, music and videos, editing and creating multimedia content.

napster

In the spring of the year 1999 the specialized service of Napster appeared for the first time. It consisted of a peer-2-peer file exchange system. It was designed with goal of sharing musicstored on their hard drives, in mp3 format over the Internet.

The software achieved immense popularity, reaching a figure of 85 million active users worldwide. Nevertheless, discographies saw Napster as a threat to the music businesswhich contracted multiple lawsuits that pushed the platform to its definitive closure in 2001. Just two years after its foundation.

Lotus 1-2-3

In 1983, Lotus 1-2-3 software appeared, a program dedicated to the elaboration of spreadsheets. Something quite similar to what Excel is. At the time, Lotus was a much more profitable and efficient alternative to VisiCalc, the spreadsheet that existed at the time.

After being a sales success, went on to become a main MS-DOS software. It was a fairly agile tool, which met the demands of the parameters of the time. He disappeared after the massive popularity gained by the Windows operating system and his office suite.

CorelDRAW

CorelDRAW it’s a vector graphics editing software. Corel Corporation was created in 1989, and later launched on the market that same year. Some of its most striking features were: the ability to adjust contrasts, add special effects, aggravate edges and balance colors.

The program also allowed to work with several pages at the same time, and with multiple layers. It was one of the first tools to offer vector editing options on desktops. Its latest version is CorelDraw Graphics Suite 2021.