Recent advances in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing, continuous scaling of gate length, and progress in silicon on insulator have stirred serious discussions on the suitability of metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) for RF/microwave applications. This paper covers the recent advances and current status of mainstream CMOS as the dominating technology in very large scale integration, future trends of RF MOSFETs, and applications of MOSFETs in RF electronics. Aspects of RF MOSFET modeling are also addressed. Despite some lingering debates, the prospects for RF MOS with operating frequencies in the lower GHz range are very promising. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.