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.com

.COM is also the extension of the DOS COM file, an extension used for executables.

.com is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used on the Internet's Domain Name System. It was one of the original top-level domains, established in January 1985. It is currently operated by VeriSign. It is consistently pronounced as a word, dot-com, and has entered the common language this way; in contrast, though some of the other TLDs are also sometimes pronounced as words, they're also frequently spelled out instead, something that is never done with .com.

Although .com domains have always been intended for commercial use, they are currently available for anyone to register. In the 1990s, .com became the most common top-level domain for websites, especially commercial ones, and gave its name to dot-com companies. The introduction of .biz, which is restricted to businesses, has had little impact on the popularity of .com.

Although companies anywhere in the world can register .com domains, many countries have a second-level domain with a similar purpose under their own ccTLD. Such second-level domains are usually of the form .com.xx or .co.xx, where xx is the ccTLD. Australia (.com.au), the United Kingdom (.co.uk), Mexico (.com.mx), New Zealand (.co.nz), People's Republic of China (.com.cn), Japan (.co.jp) and South Korea (.co.kr) are all examples.

Often, noncommercial sites such as those of nonprofit organizations, governments, and so on will use .com addresses, which some find to be contrary to the domain's original purpose. A .org, .gov, or other more specific TLD might be more appropriate for such sites.

List of oldest .com domains

The following are the 75 oldest still-existing registered .com domains:

Rank       Create date     Domain name
1.      15-Mar-1985     SYMBOLICS.COM
2.      24-Apr-1985     BBN.COM
3.      24-May-1985     THINK.COM
4.      11-Jul-1985     MCC.COM
5.      30-Sep-1985     DEC.COM
6.      07-Nov-1985     NORTHROP.COM
7.      09-Jan-1986     XEROX.COM
8.      17-Jan-1986     SRI.COM
9.      03-Mar-1986     HP.COM
10.     05-Mar-1986     BELLCORE.COM
11.     19-Mar-1986     IBM.COM
11.     19-Mar-1986     SUN.COM
13.     25-Mar-1986     INTEL.COM
13.     25-Mar-1986     TI.COM
15.     25-Apr-1986     ATT.COM
16.     08-May-1986     GMR.COM
16.     08-May-1986     TEK.COM
18.     10-Jul-1986     FMC.COM 
18.     10-Jul-1986     UB.COM
20.     05-Aug-1986     BELL-ATL.COM
20.     05-Aug-1986     GE.COM
20.     05-Aug-1986     GREBYN.COM
20.     05-Aug-1986     ISC.COM
20.     05-Aug-1986     NSC.COM
20.     05-Aug-1986     STARGATE.COM
26.     02-Sep-1986     BOEING.COM
27.     18-Sep-1986     ITCORP.COM
28.     29-Sep-1986     SIEMENS.COM
29.     18-Oct-1986     PYRAMID.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     ALPHACDC.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     BDM.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     FLUKE.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     INMET.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     KESMAI.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     MENTOR.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     NEC.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     RAY.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     ROSEMOUNT.COM
30.     27-Oct-1986     VORTEX.COM
40.     05-Nov-1986     ALCOA.COM
40.     05-Nov-1986     GTE.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     ADOBE.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     AMD.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     DAS.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     DATA-IO.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     OCTOPUS.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     PORTAL.COM
42.     17-Nov-1986     TELTONE.COM
42.     11-Dec-1986     3COM.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     AMDAHL.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     CCUR.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     CI.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     CONVERGENT.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     DG.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     PEREGRINE.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     QUAD.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     SQ.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     TANDY.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     TTI.COM
50.     11-Dec-1986     UNISYS.COM
61.     19-Jan-1987     CGI.COM
61.     19-Jan-1987     CTS.COM
61.     19-Jan-1987     SPDCC.COM
64.     19-Feb-1987     APPLE.COM
65.     04-Mar-1987     NMA.COM
65.     04-Mar-1987     PRIME.COM
67.     04-Apr-1987     PHILIPS.COM
68.     23-Apr-1987     DATACUBE.COM
68.     23-Apr-1987     KAI.COM
68.     23-Apr-1987     TIC.COM
68.     23-Apr-1987     VINE.COM
72.     30-Apr-1987     NCR.COM
73.     14-May-1987     CISCO.COM
73.     14-May-1987     RDL.COM
75.     20-May-1987     SLB.COM

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Last updated: 08-15-2005 23:29:46
Last updated: 08-18-2005 10:21:46