90’s techs…. Where are they now?!

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I still remember the good old (gold) days of 90’s, in fact, 90’s were years full of colors, music, and the most important thing……..technologies.

I remembered some technologies and tools I used then and thought to find out where they are now, and how they evolved “if they are”…Let’s see.

Netscape Navigator

It’s a quiet story, when we remember the 90s, we definitely recognize the most iconic web browser ever: Netscape navigator.

Netscape navigator was a revolutionary web browser, it was considered as a window to the internet as we know it.

as of 2003, Netscape navigator disappeared. This is because of a lack of innovation at this time, and something else: Microsoft.

Although bundling Internet Explorer with Microsoft Windows operating systems was considered as “monopolistic” and considered an illegal business practice, it was too late for Netscape.

In 2007, Netscape name came back with version 9, but then, AOL canceled its development in 2008. But it is not a death note. As you already know that Netscape opensource is a base for a spinoff browser….Mozilla Firefox.

You can have a blast from the past and try it from here.

Winamp

WINAMP …….. “It really whips the Llama’s ass!”

This catchphrase is definitely came into your mind when you hear about winamp. It is all started by 1997 as a viral media player. It was just a feeling of a DJ at your home with some cool visualizations , equalizers, and skins.

Winamp developed by nullsoft and then owned by AOL till 2013 to be finally owned by Radionomy. I said NOW as winamp still exists. even its official announcement of shutting it down by AOL in 2013, there is a version (V5.8) appeared in late 2018, followed by an announcement by Radionomy that there will be V6 coming in 2019. it never happened.

But taking a look into winamp website, It shows that there is something cooking with a complete revamp.

Winamp also has a NFT initiative to help musicians across the world create music they love.

JetAudio

Another legendary media player with some cool stuffs and skins (probaply skins was a hit of 90s).

But Jetaudio wasn’t just a media player, it offered functions like metadata editing, CD ripping and burning, data conversion, sound recording, and internet radio broadcasting.

Jetaudio is working since 1997 and still functioning with the latest release (8.1) and it is available for android as well.

ICQ

I always wondered what is the meaning of those three letters. Later, I found that the name ICQ derives from the English phrase “I SEEK YOU”.

ICQ was one of the first stand-alone instant messaging. It is working since 1996 till the latest version (ICQ 10.0) released on November 8th, 2018.

ICQ is still exists under the name ICQ New with some cool features like smart and audio-to-text conversion. It is now available on the Web, Windows as well as Android, and iOS.

Paltalk

Since 1998, Paltalk was a famous video, voice, and internet chat. Was one which offers chat rooms, where users can create private rooms for chat.

Paltalk is still here, it offers web-based application, Windows application, Android app, and iOS app (since December 2021).

Nowadays, Clubhouse reminded me of Paltalk, it is almost similar to the idea of chat rooms.

In June 2013, it was revealed that Paltalk was targeted by the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program. All Paltalk communications (video, phone calls, and chats) have been recorded, stored indefinitely, and evaluated by the NSA.

Wikipedia

mIRC

I remember the days when I tried to work with mIRC. In fact, I didn’t understand it in the first place as I thought it is just like any other chatting program.

mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat for Windows, working since 1995.

What makes mIRC different is its scripting language. It is somehow the very beginning of microservices architecture.

Surprisingly, mIRC is still here, with version 7.68 that released April, 2022.

Y!M

If you don’t remember Y!M, you would probably remember that famous logo.

Again, Yahoo! Messenger was released in 1998 (It seems it was a milestone in consumer technologies). It was a famous instant messaging for many reasons, first thing was that it was integrated with your Yahoo account, and the major distinguishing features were things like:

• File sharing
• Likes
• Unsend
• Group Conversation
• Voice and Video
• Games

On October 13, 2005, Yahoo and Microsoft announced plans to introduce interoperability between their two messengers, creating the second-largest real-time communications service userbase worldwide.

The last major Windows client release, version 11 in 2011, featured integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Zynga, allowing chat with Facebook friends and playing Zynga games within. It also archives past messages on an online server which is accessible through the client. Version 11.5 (released November 2011) added tabbed IMs.

In December 2015, an all-new, rewritten Yahoo! Messenger was launched, only on mobile and through a browser. A desktop version of the “new” Messenger was later released, shortly before the “legacy” Messenger shut down on August 5, 2016.

Doom

The last but not least, Doom.

I was surfing on my PlayStation store to find games for my PSVR kit, and I found a treasure, which is Doom VR edition.

When I was a kid, Doom was one of my favorite PC games ever. Even if I didn’t understand the plot or game sequence. But I got attached to it.

Doom was first released in 1993 as a classic game till 1997. Followed by Doom 3 in 2004. Then the VR edition in 2017. Here is the timeline:

Doom is still here as a franchise. Still, there are fans around the world for the classic game as well as the remastered ones. In 2005, this game turned into a famous movie:

I still have lots of products to talk about, but it is getting too long :). Let me know what was your favorite childhood technology.