When was floppy disc introduced

Without the legacy reliance on BIOS upgrades by floppy, the Mac was free to cut its floppy ties earlier than most. In , Sony announced that it would cease production of floppy disks in March of due to dwindling demand, and today, no one manufactures floppy disks or floppy drives, at least to our knowledge. Still, legacy uses of floppies remain. As late as , some United States nuclear weapons systems still relied on 8-inch floppies to operate properly, although they recently received a floppy-free upgrade.

In August of , The Register reported that Boeing airplanes still receive critical software updates over 3. Why stick with them? Today, many vintage computer hobbyists still use floppies for fun. Happy birthday, floppy disks! Browse All iPhone Articles Browse All Mac Articles Do I need one? Browse All Android Articles Browse All Smart Home Articles Customize the Taskbar in Windows Browse All Microsoft Office Articles What Is svchost.

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That was fine for mainframes, but personal computers needed something else. And the alternative already existed: the floppy disk. In the s and s, floppy disks were the primary storage device for word processors and personal computers, and became the standard way to distribute software.

Word processing manufacturers like Wang were anxious for disks smaller than 8 inches. The design that became the popular 5. Because the drive could fit inside a PC case, it revolutionized personal data storage.

The Minnow was a read-only drive that loaded factory-written microcode into mainframe computers. Subject Library.

Stay up-to-date! Subscribe to our newsletter. Want a free web site? It's easy with new About SiteBuilder! Get your site now. Editors note: The following first hand information was provided by Richard Mateosian who developed a floppy disk operating system for the first "floppies".

The disks were 8 inches in diameter and had a capacity of K, I think.