I feel like they're around for decades? Gorilla glass is absolutely no necessity to enable 3 or 4 panes. ChatGPT (sry, I'm becoming lazy) agrees that they're available since the 1980s. In the US adoption became more widespread in the 2000s. Here in Europe/Germany they became more popular in the 1990s already. This matches how I remember it.
When we replaced our 1980s double glazed windows with triple glazed a few years ago, I could have easily gotten four-pane insulated windows as well, except for the roof-installed windows. Drawbacks of multi-pane are the increased weight and them being more opaque.
(Yes, we also insulated the walls and can control humidity - just in case someone wants to point out that the window replacement alone can cause moisture/mold damage to our house :))
When we replaced our 1980s double glazed windows with triple glazed a few years ago, I could have easily gotten four-pane insulated windows as well, except for the roof-installed windows. Drawbacks of multi-pane are the increased weight and them being more opaque.
(Yes, we also insulated the walls and can control humidity - just in case someone wants to point out that the window replacement alone can cause moisture/mold damage to our house :))