On This Day in Tech History

On December 16th, 2005, IBM officially discontinued sales of its operating system, OS/2. This move marked the end of an era for one of the earliest graphical user interfaces (GUI) operating systems, which was first introduced by IBM in 1987. OS/2 was initially created as a joint project between IBM and Microsoft, but eventually became solely owned by IBM. The operating system was designed to be a high-performance alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system, with features such as multi-tasking, multi-threading, and support for 32-bit applications. Despite its advanced capabilities, OS/2 never gained widespread popularity among consumers or businesses. This was partly due to the fact that Microsoft continued to dominate the personal computer market with its Windows operating system, which came pre-installed on most PCs.

On December 16th, 2004, Microsoft announced its acquisition of GIANT Company Software, a developer of anti-spyware software. This move was seen as a response to the growing threat of spyware, a type of malicious software that can secretly collect a user's personal information without their consent. At the time of the acquisition, GIANT Company Software was known for its popular anti-spyware program, which was designed to detect and remove various types of spyware and adware from a user's computer. The software was praised for its effectiveness in combating these threats, which had become increasingly common in the early 2000s.