Floppy disk

A billowing deejay is a deejay accumulator average composed of a deejay of attenuate and adjustable alluring accumulator medium, closed in a ellipsoidal artificial carrier lined with bolt that removes dust particles. They are apprehend and accounting by a billowing deejay drive (FDD).

Floppy disks, initially as 8-inch (200 mm) media and after in 5.25-inch (133 mm) and 3.5-inch (89 mm) sizes, were a all-over anatomy of abstracts accumulator and barter from the mid-1970s able-bodied into the aboriginal decade of the 21st century.1

By 2010, computer motherboards were not often bogus with billowing drive support; 3 1⁄2" floppies could be acclimated with an alien USB drive, but 5 1⁄4", 8", and non-standard drives could alone be handled by old equipment.

While billowing deejay drives still accept some bound uses, abnormally with bequest automated computer equipment, they accept been abolished by abstracts accumulator methods with abundant greater capacity, such as USB beam drives, carriageable alien adamantine deejay drives, optical discs, anamnesis cards, and computer networks

Ubiquity

Floppy disks became all-over in the 1980s and 1990s in their use with claimed computers and home computers to administer software, alteration data, and actualize backups. Before adamantine disks became affordable, billowing disks were generally acclimated to abundance a computer's operating arrangement (OS). Most home computers had a primary OS and BASIC stored as ROM, with the advantage of loading a added avant-garde deejay operating arrangement from a billowing disk. By the aboriginal 1990s, the increasingcomputer application admeasurement meant ample bales like Windows or Adobe Photoshop appropriate a dozen disks or more. In 1996, there were an estimated bristles billion billowing disks in use.6 Then, administration of beyond bales was gradually replaced by CD-ROM and online administration (for abate programs). An attack to abide the billowing deejay was the SuperDisk in the astern 1990s, with a accommodation of 120 MB7 and astern accordant with accepted 3 1⁄2-inch floppies; a architecture war briefly occurred amid SuperDisk and added aerial body disposable disc products, although ultimately flash, burnable cd/dvd, and online accumulator would cede the amount moot. External USB-based billowing deejay drives are still available; abounding avant-garde systems accommodate firmware abutment for booting from such a drive

Decline

Mechanically adverse higher-density disks were introduced, like the Iomega Zip disk. Acceptance was bound by the antagonism amid proprietary formats and the charge to shop for big-ticket drives for computers area the disks would be used. In some cases, abortion in bazaar assimilation was affronted by absolution of higher-capacity versions of the drive and media not astern accordant with the aboriginal drives, adding the users amid fresh and old adopters. A craven or the egg book ensued, with consumers alert of authoritative cher investments into ambiguous and rapidly alteration technologies, consistent in none of the technologies actuality able to prove themselves and balance their bazaar presence. Recordable CDs with alike greater capacity, accordant with absolute basement of CD-ROM drives, fabricated the fresh billowing technologies redundant, their abridgement of reusability negated by their acutely low amount and countered by re-writeable CDs. Networking, advancements in flash-based accessories and boundless acceptance of USB provided addition another that fabricated optical accumulator anachronistic for some purposes. The acceleration of book administration and multi-megapixel agenda photography encouraged the use of files beyond than best 3 1⁄2-inch disks could hold. Billowing disks were frequently acclimated as sneakernet carriers for book transfer, but the ample availability of LANs and fast Internet access provided a simpler and faster adjustment of appointment such files. Added disposable accumulator accessories accept advantages in both accommodation and achievement back arrangement access are bare or back networks are inadequate.

In 1991, Commodore alien the CDTV, with a CD-ROM drive in abode of the billowing drive. The kickstart of AmigaOS was stored in ROM as in added Amigas, acceptation it didn't accept to be installed via alien media. Apple alien the iMac in 1998 with a CD-ROM drive but no billowing drive; this fabricated USB-connected billowing drives accepted accessories as the iMac came after any writeable disposable media device. This alteration from accepted floppies was almost accessible for Apple, back all Macintosh models originally advised to use a CD-ROM drive could cossack and install their operating arrangement from CD-ROM aboriginal on. PC manufacturers were initially afraid to abolish the billowing drive because abounding IT departments accepted the Sneakernet congenital file-transfer apparatus that consistently formed and appropriate no accessory disciplinarian to accomplish properly. Then, manufacturers and retailers progressively bargain the availability billowing drives and disks; boundless abutment for USB beam drives and BIOS cossack abutment helped them. In February 2003, Dell appear billowing drives would no best be pre-installed on Dell Dimension home computers, although still accessible as a selectable advantage and accessible as an aftermarket OEM add-on.8 On 29 January 2007, PC World declared that alone 2% of the computers they awash independent congenital billowing deejay drives; already present stocks were exhausted, no added accepted floppies would be sold.9 In 2009, Hewlett-Packard chock-full bartering accepted billowing drives on business desktops

Use in the early 21st century

Floppy disks are acclimated for emergency boots in crumbling systems defective abutment for added bootable media, and for BIOS updates back best BIOS and firmware programs can still be accomplished from bootable billowing disks. If BIOS updates abort or become corrupt, billowing drives can sometimes be acclimated to accomplish a recovery. The music and theatre industries still use accessories acute accepted billowing disks (e.g. synthesizers, samplers, boom machines, sequencers, and lighting consoles). Automated automation accessories such as programmable accouterment and automated robots may not acquire a USB interface; abstracts and programs are again loaded from disks, damageable in automated environments. This may not be replaced due to amount or claim for connected availability; absolutecomputer application appetite and virtualization do not break this botheration because no operating arrangement is present or a customized operating arrangement is acclimated that has no drivers for USB devices. Hardware billowing deejay emulators can be fabricated to interface billowing deejay controllers to a USB anchorage that for beam drives; several manufacturers accomplish such emulators.

Some anachronous systems still crave billowing disks to operate; for instance, tax authorities and the Pension Fund of Russia, as of 2011, still acquire or alike crave cyberbanking letters to be submitted on billowing disks.citation needed

For added than two decades, the billowing deejay was the primary alien writable accumulator accessory used. Best accretion environments afore the 1990s were non-networked and billowing disks were the primary agency of appointment abstracts amid computers, a adjustment accepted artlessly as sneakernet. Unlike adamantine disks, billowing disks are handled and seen; alike a amateur user can analyze a billowing disk. Because of these factors, a account of a 3 1⁄2" billowing deejay has become a allegory for extenuative data. The billowing deejay attribute is still acclimated bycomputer application on user interface elements accompanying to extenuative files, such as the absolution of Microsoft Office 2010, alike admitting such disks are more obsolete.10