Winmodems. Bane of the Linux user’s existence at the time.

Yep. And nothing on the packaging to tell you this.

Later on, there were modems that required a CPU with MMX instructions. Dealt with that a lot when I ran my short-lived computer shop.

I made it a policy in '97 to only buy external modems.

A decade after they went off the market I came across one still in the shrink wrap and gag gifted it to a couple of friends. Neither one wanted it for some reason. "Oh, gee, thanks". LOL!