2006
- January (month)
- Top selling personal computer game in the US for the month: World of Warcraft. [1990.136]
- February (month)
- Top selling personal computer game in the US for the month: Star Wars: Empire at War. [1991.114]
- March
- Linus Torvalds announces the release of Linux kernel version 2.6.16. Main new features are support for IBM's Cell processor, and a clustering file system from Oracle. [2186.20]
- March (month)
- Top selling computer game in the US for the month: The Sims 2: Open for Business. [1988.120]
- Market share of Web browsers during the month: Microsoft Internet Explorer 84.7%, Firefox 10.05%, Safari 3.19%. [2186.4]
- April 5
- Apple Computer releases the Boot Camp software allowing the new Intel-based Apple computers to run Windows XP. [1914.24] [1916.28]
- April (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: Guild Wars: Factions. [2079.114]
- May
- Quark releases the QuarkXPress 7 software for the Mac OS. [2247.16]
- May 22
- Microsoft announces FlexGo, software allowing the use of a computer with a pre-paid card number. [2094.40]
- May 23
- Microsoft releases a Beta 2 test version of Windows Vista. [2322]
- May 31
- The Game Critics Awards are announced:
- Best Original Game: Spore;
- Best PC Game: Spore;
- Best Simulation Game: Spore.
[2322]
- May (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: Guild Wars: Factions. [2114.96]
- June (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft. [2115.102]
- (month unknown)
- Palm settles a lawsuit filed by Xerox in 1997, in which Xerox claimed that Palm's Graffiti handwriting-recognition technology infringed the Xerox Unistrokes technology. Palm pays US$22.5 million, and will continue to use the technology. [2191.12]
- July 11
- Microsoft ceases providing new security patches for Windows 98, 98 SE, and Millenium Edition. [2101.55]
- July 12
- The European Commission fines Microsoft US$356 million for failing to comply with orders to share information about the Windows operating system for servers. [2098.24]
- July (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft. [2117.116]
- August
- Borland Software re-introduces Turbo C++ for Windows. [2194.20]
- Borland Software introduces Turbo C# for .Net. [2194.20]
- Borland Software introduces Turbo Delphi for .Net, and Turbo Delphi for Windows. [2194.20]
- August (month)
- Top selling computer game for the month in the USA: World of Warcraft. [2284.148]
- (month unknown)
- Intuit releases Quicken 2007 Mac for the Mac OS. [2249.60]
- Microsoft announces it will not develop a new version of Virtual PC emulation software for Intel-based Apple Mac computers. [2249.19]
- September 3
- FreeDOS 1.0 is released. [2237.10]
- September 26
- Microsoft releases Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2005 for Windows in the USA. [2195.24]
- September (month)
- Top selling computer game for the month in the USA: The Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff. [2285.148]
- October 4
- Comedy Central airs the South Park TV show in the USA. The episode centers around the World of Warcraft computer game. Several characters play in the game, attempting to defeat a powerful player. [2254]
- October
- Global usage share of Web browsers: Internet Explorer 86 percent, Firefox 11.5 percent, Safari under 2 percent, Opera under 2 percent. [2322]
- October 18
- Microsoft releases the Internet Explorer 7 Web browser. [2322] [2386.10]
- October 27
- Mozilla Foundation releases the Firefox 2.0 Web browser. [2194.16] [2386.10]
- October (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Sims 2: Pets. [2286.116]
- November 6
- YTV airs the TV show Weird Years in Canada. The game "WarQuest" is played on a personal computer, a play on game titles Warcraft and EverQuest. [2366]
- November 30
- Microsoft releases the Windows Vista operating system to corporate clients. The software is comprised of 50 million lines of source code. [2337.58] [2389.15] [2395.10]
- November (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: Neverwinter Nights 2. [2290.112]
- December (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Sims 2: Pets. [2290.112]
- Year
- Total sales of computer game software in the USA for the year: US$970 million. [2322]
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the year: World of Warcraft. [2322]
2007
- January 16
- Blizzard Entertainment releases the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade game for Windows/Macintosh computers in North America and Europe. In the first 24 hours, about 2.4 million copies are sold, making this the fastest selling game in both areas. [2291.1] [2369.22,107]
- January 30
- Microsoft releases the Windows Vista operating system for personal computers. [2338.20] [2379.26] [2380.29] [2386.11]
- January (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. [2369.112]
- February (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. [2406.100]
- March
- In Seattle, Washington, Microsoft holds the Most Valuable Professional Summit. Microsoft announces it will terminate development of FoxPro. [2396.22]
- March (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Sims 2: Seasons. [2407.120]
- April 23
- The April 23 issue of Business Week magazine shows an office with a computer shown running "SOLITAIRE", a reference to the game included with Microsoft Windows. [2341.52]
- April (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. [2408]
- May 13
- The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the USA. A desktop personal computer with keyboard and mouse appears. A snake sees the computer mouse transform into a real mouse, and it tries to eat the entire computer. "Clippy", the electronic paperclip mascot of Microsoft Office appears, asking the snake if it needs help. [2352]
- May (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. [2409.104]
- June 30
- To date, Microsoft has sold over 60 million licenses to Windows Vista. [2322]
- June (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. [2410.104]
- July (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft. [2432.128]
- August (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft. [2433.164]
- September 23
- The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A "Restoration Software" store appears, with LCD monitors on a desk. [2466]
- September (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Sims 2: Bon Voyage. [2434.160]
- October 26
- Apple releases the Mac OS X "Leopard" operating system for Macintosh computers. Price is US$129 for a single user or $199 for up to five computers in a single household. (Sales in the first four days: 2 million copies.) [2322] [2441.8]
- October 30
- Apple ships the 2 millionth copy of Mac OS X Leopard. [2462.10]
- October (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Orange Box. [2435.104]
- November 15
- Electronic Arts releases the SimCity Societies game for personal computers in the USA. Price is US$49.95. [2441.98]
- November (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. [2485.104]
- December (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. [2488.108]
2008
- January (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft. [2489.95]
- February (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: World of Warcraft. [2490.100]
- March 30
- The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A personal computer appears, showing a Power Point presentation. Another computer appears in a bedroom. [2474]
- March (month)
- Top selling computer game in the USA for the month: The Sims 2 Free Time. [2491.102]
- June 14
- In London, England, David and Richard Darling are made Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for their "services to the computer games industry". The brothers co-founded Galactic Software in 1982, and co-founded Codemasters in 1986. [2322]
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