Evolution and recent developments of 80%Ni permalloys

•High µ, low Hc.•High ductility.•Shielding in low fields.•High quality sensor. A brief review of a century of previous work highlights the main discoveries of physical understanding of high µ permalloys and summarizes the main mechanisms and phenomena operating in these modern ternary or quaternary alloys. Applications that remain current, in development or potentially future are then presented with their evolutions, such as shielding or torque sensor applications. In conclusion, we emphasize that versatile and high-level magnetic performance as well as the ability to supply complex parts of the 80Ni-permalloys allow them to remain modern soft magnetic materials always looking to the future.