Each year, just before Christmas, I take a few minutes to dust off the cobwebbed memories of the past 12 months to identify Utah's top technology stories of the year.

The finished result has appeared as the Utah Tech Watch Top 10 Stories of the Year.This year, however, there were five events that stood out so far above all other stories that I've decided to identify only the 1996 Top Five Technology Stories of 1996.

This undertaking is not scientific; it's merely one person's viewpoint of what mattered most in the state's high-tech landscape.

Number 5 - Corel/WordPerfect marriage.

Once the shock wore off at Corel's announcement that it would purchase WordPerfect, the firm, based in Ottawa, Canada, spent most of the year apparently doing what it said it would accomplish.

WordPerfect 7.0 and Perfect-Office 7.0 were successfully launched during 1996, both at previously unheard of list prices.

Many wavering WordPerfect adherents remained in the fold, helping Corel regain a bit of Word-Perfect's past glory and market share.

Corel also announced its intent to create a Java-based Perfect-Office suite in 1997 that can be used on an as-needed basis via the Internet and Network Computers.

Number 4 - New telecommunications act passes.

For the first time in decades, Congress created a new law for the telecommunications industry.

The resulting deregulation enables virtually any individual or any company to enter the telecommunications field.

US WEST just signed its first permanent interconnection agreement in its entire 14-state region with a competitive access provider here in Utah.

As a result, Utah businesses (and eventually individuals) can get local phone service along the Wasatch Front from someone besides US WEST.

The same effect has also occurred in the long-distance market and is beginning to happen in the Internet access business. Chances are it will also happen in the cable industry.

The end effect of the new act is hard to project, but it is likely to change the face of telecommunications and how we interact electronically with each other for years to come.

Number 3 - Novell management changes.

Bob Frankenberg, president, CEO and chairman - gone.

Jeff Waxman, executive vice president - gone.

Steve Markman, executive vice president - gone.

Richard King, executive vice president - gone.

Sheldon Laube, chief technology officer - gone.

Christine Hughes, senior vice president, marketing - gone.

Bruce Bastian, board member - gone.

Alan Ashton, board member - gone.