1986-1989

1986

  • Microsoft Works introduced for Macintosh.[1]

1986 January

Macintosh Plus and LaserWriter Plus introduced.[2]

Apple and Steve Jobs reach out-of-court settlement.[3]

Applied Engineering introduces the Transwarp accelerator for the Apple II.

Mac System 3.0, Finder 5.1 (System Software 0.7) released. This version introduced further speed increases, but more importantly replaced the Macintosh Filing System (MFS) with the Hierarchical Filing System (HFS) to better support nested folders (subdirectories), a necessity for the new Apple HD20 hard drive.[4]

1986 February

Steve Jobs sells all but one share of his Apple stock, leaving Mike Markkula as the largest shareholder.[5]

1986 March

Central Point Software introduces the Laser 128 computer ($395). It is similar to the Apple IIc, but includes a single expansion slot and a numeric keypad.[6]

1986 June

Mac System 3.2, Finder 5.3 (System Software 1.1) released, primarily fixing bugs, and updating the Chooser and the Calculator desk accessory.[7]

1986 August

AppleWorks Forum begins publication.

1986 September

Apple IIGS and Apple 3.5 Drive introduced ($999) on September 15, 1986.[8], [9]

Apple IIc Memory Expansion version introduced, with IIc Memory Expansion card. Apple IIe 128K price reduced.[10]

Apple II SCSI controller card and Apple Hard Disk 20SC introduced.[11]

Apple RGB Monitor ($499), Apple Monochrome Monitor ($129), and AppleColor Composite Monitor ($379) introduced.[12]

ProDOS 16 v1.0 introduced; original ProDOS becomes ProDOS 8 v1.2.[13]

Apple Programmer’s and Developer’s Association (APDA) created.[14]

1986 November

Penguin Software, a pioneer in removal of copy protection, is forced by Penguin Books to change its name. The company chooses “Polarware”.[15]

1986 December

ProDOS 16 v1.1[16]

1987

1987 January

ProDOS 8 v1.3

Platinum Apple IIe with built-in keypad introduced ($829).

II Computing ceases publication.

Mac System 3.3, Finder 5.4 (System Software 2.0) released, introducing AppleShare networking software to the Mac operating system.[17]

Commodore Amiga 500 announced.

1987 February

Apple II SCSI Card revision B released (fixes problems encountered when trying to use the card on the IIGS).[18]

1987 March

Macintosh SE and Macintosh II introduced.

Commodore Amiga 2000 released.

1987 April

ProDOS 8 v1.4

IBM PS/2 line introduced, with the first version of their OS/2 operating system.[19]

Microsoft Windows 2.0 released.[20]

Mac System 4.1, Finder 5.5 (System Software 2.01) released, adapting the Mac to be better able to use hard drives larger than 32 meg in size, and including other features to support the new Macintosh II.[21]

1987 May

Apple IIGS System Software v2.0 [22]

AppleFest ’87 held in Boston.

1987 June

Pecan Software releases FORTRAN for the Apple IIGS.[23]

1987 July

Claris, a software company spun-off from Apple, is announced. It will handle AppleWorks and Macintosh software previously sold by Apple.

1987 September

Apple IIGS ROM 01 upgrade.[24]

The Apple II Review changes its name to The Apple IIGS Buyer’s Guide.

AppleFest ’87 held in San Francisco.

1987 October

Beagle Bros introduces the TimeOut series of enhancements for AppleWorks.[25]

Mac System 4.2, Finder 6.0 (System Software 5.0) released, supporting the new color Macintosh models, adding the MultiFinder (allowing switching between running applications), and background printing with the LaserWriter printer.[26]

1987 November

Applied Engineering introduces the PC Transporter.

1987 December

Apple IIGS System Software v3.1 released. It is the first version with the Finder.[27]

BASIC.SYSTEM v1.2

II Computing ceases publication.

1988

  • Intel introduces the 386SX processor.[28]
  • Memory chips are in short supply, and therefore quite expensive.[29]
  • dBASE IV introduced.[30]
  • A “worm” is accidentally released into the ARPANet computer network, and causes significant problems at six thousand sites across the country.[31]

1988 January

Apple IIc Revised Memory Expansion version released.[32]

Apple’s LaserWriter II family introduced.

Timeworks introduces Publish-It!, the first serious desktop publishing program for the Apple II.

1988 March

AppleCD SC (CD-ROM drive, $1199) introduced for both the Macintosh and Apple II. Also introduced were the Apple II SCSI Card Rev C (supporting partitioning on large capacity disk drives), and the Apple II Workstation Card ($249) to allow the Apple IIe to connect to AppleTalk.[33]

Tom Weishaar (of Open-Apple) begins as manager of the Apple II Roundtables on the GEnie online service.[34]

VTech releases the Laser 128 EX.

1988 April

ProDOS 8 v1.5.

CyberAIDS virus written.

1988 May

Apple introduces AppleLink-Personal Edition, run by Quantum Computer Services, at AppleFest ’88 in Boston.

Apple Assembly Line ceases publication.[35]

Zip Technologies introduces the Zip Chip at AppleFest. It is a 4 MHz accelerator on a single chip.[36]

1988 June

ProDOS 8 v1.6.

Festering Hate virus written.

Mac System 6.0 released, featuring improvements to the MultiFinder and LaserWriter drivers, and support for the SuperDrive.[37],[38]

1988 July

Apple IIGS System Software v3.2; it is the first version that can boot over an AppleTalk network.[39], [40]

1988 August

ProDOS 8 v1.7.

Quantum Computer Services starts PC-Link, an online service for PC users.

VTech releases the Laser 128 EX/2.

1988 September

Apple IIGS System Software v4.0 introduced. It is the first version to be called GS/OS, and is written entirely in 16-bit code.[41]

Apple IIc Plus introduced ($675, or $1099 with color monitor) at AppleFest ’88 in San Francisco.

Macintosh IIx and FDHD (SuperDrive) introduced.

Zip Chip finally available for shipment.

1988 October

Claris, having bought the rights to StyleWare’s program GS-Works, modifies and releases it as AppleWorks GS.

AppleLink Personal Edition starts service.

1988 November

Applied Engineering introduces the Transwarp GS accelerator.

1988 December

A.P.P.L.E. (Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange) changes it official name to TechAlliance; among other reasons is Apple Computer’s dislike of other companies using “their” name.[42]

Open-Apple changes its name to A2-Central for similar reasons.[43]

UpTime disk magazine ceases publication, purchased by Softdisk.

Apple Computer purchases the Apple Programmers and Developers Association (APDA) from A.P.P.L.E. Co-op.[44]

Steve Jobs announces the NeXT computer.

1989

  • GRiD Systems announces the GRiDPad, a handwriting-recognizing pad.[45]

1989 March

At CERN (“Centre European pour la Recherche Nucleaire”, or European Laboratory for Particle Physics) in Geneva, Switzerland, Tim Berners-Lee submits a paper “Information Management: A Proposal”, which forms the theoretical basis for the function of hypertext links on the Internet.[46]

Mac System 6.0.3 released, the first stable version of System 6.[47]

1989 April

Apple II Video Overlay Card introduced.

1989 May

Roger Wagner Publishing releases HyperStudio, the first Apple IIGS hypermedia product.

A+ and inCider merge to become inCider/A+.[48]

1989 June

ProDOS 8 v1.8.

BASIC.SYSTEM v1.3 (It was a buggy version, however, that had to be soon replaced).

Claris announces AppleWorks 3.0.

The Source is sold to CompuServe.

Apple Computer pays $2.5 million to Quantum Computer Services to recover the rights to use of the Apple logo for an online service.

1989 July

First A2-Central Developer’s Conference.

Apple IIGS System Software v5.0 released.[49]

Load Runner virus appeared.

1989 August

Apple IIGS ROM 03 introduced.

BASIC.SYSTEM v1.4.

The Source is shut down, and customers are offered a credit to join CompuServe.

1989 September

GS+ begins publication.

Macintosh Portable and Macintosh IIci introduced.

1989 October

AppleLink Personal Edition is renamed “America Online”.

Burp virus appears.

1989 November

Softdisk G-S begins publication.

1989 December

Apple IIGS System Software v5.0.2 released.[50]

NOTES

  1. [1]Smarte, Gene, and Reinhardt, Andrew. “15 Years Of Bits, Bytes, And Other Great Moments”, Byte, Sep 1990: 369-400.↩
  2. [2]—–. “Back In Time”, A+ Magazine, Feb 1987: 48-49.↩
  3. [3]—–. “Back In Time”, A+ Magazine, Feb 1987: 48-49.↩
  4. [4]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  5. [5]—–. “Back In Time”, A+ Magazine, Feb 1987: 48-49.↩
  6. [6]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Mar 1986: 2.10.↩
  7. [7]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  8. [8]—–. “Back In Time”, A+ Magazine, Feb 1987: 48-49.↩
  9. [9]Little, Gary. Exploring Apple GS/OS And ProDOS 8, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc, Reading, MA, 1988) pp. 2-4.↩
  10. [10]Weishaar, Tom. “New $999 Apple IIGS Arrives”, Open-Apple, Oct 1986: 2.65-2.67.↩
  11. [11]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Oct 1986: 2.67.↩
  12. [12]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Oct 1986: 2.67.↩
  13. [13]Deatherage, Matt. “The Operating System”, The Apple II Guide, Fall 1990: 117-125.↩
  14. [14]Cochran, Dan. “Introducing APDA”, Call-A.P.P.L.E., Sep 1986: 9-10.↩
  15. [15]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Nov 1986: 2.74.↩
  16. [16]Stechow, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  17. [17]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  18. [18]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Mar 1987: 3.12.↩
  19. [19]Prosise, Jeff. “A Decade Of MS-DOS”, PC Magazine, Sep 24, 1991: 232-233.↩
  20. [20]Lessard, Daniel. 2002. “Microsoft Windows”. pcbiography, http://www.pcbiography.net/↩
  21. [21]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  22. [22]Stechow, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  23. [23]Geenen, Donald. “FORTRAN-77 Forever!”, Call-A.P.P.L.E., Mar 1989: 20-26.↩
  24. [24]Platt, Robert, and Field, Bruce. “A.P.P.L.E. Doctor”, Call-A.P.P.L.E., Nov 1987: 58.↩
  25. [25]—–. “The Marketplace”, Call-A.P.P.L.E., Jun 1988: 23, 26.↩
  26. [26]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  27. [27]Stechow, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  28. [28]Smarte, Gene, and Reinhardt, Andrew. “15 Years Of Bits, Bytes, And Other Great Moments”, Byte, Sep 1990: 369-400.↩
  29. [29]Smarte, Gene, and Reinhardt, Andrew. “15 Years Of Bits, Bytes, And Other Great Moments”, Byte, Sep 1990: 369-400.↩
  30. [30]Smarte, Gene, and Reinhardt, Andrew. “15 Years Of Bits, Bytes, And Other Great Moments”, Byte, Sep 1990: 369-400.↩
  31. [31]Smarte, Gene, and Reinhardt, Andrew. “15 Years Of Bits, Bytes, And Other Great Moments”, Byte, Sep 1990: 369-400.↩
  32. [32]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Mar 1987: 3.94.↩
  33. [33]Weishaar, Tom. “Apple announces file sharing, CD-ROM”, Open-Apple, Apr 1988: 4.17-4.18.↩
  34. [34]Weishaar, Tom. “Apple announces file sharing, CD-ROM”, Open-Apple, Apr 1988: 4.17-4.18.↩
  35. [35]Hoover, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  36. [36]E’Sex, Lunatic. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Apr 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  37. [37]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  38. [38]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  39. [39]Stechow, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  40. [40]Weishaar, Tom. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Aug 1988: 4.50.↩
  41. [41]Weishaar, Tom. “Breaking the incompatibility barrier: An introduction to Apple’s GS/OS”, Open-Apple, Nov 1988: 4.75-4.78.↩
  42. [42]Suther, Kathryn. “The Inside Track”, Call-A.P.P.L.E., Dec 1988: 9.↩
  43. [43]Weishaar, Tom. “Open-Apple becomes A2-Central“, Open-Apple, Dec 1988: 4.84.↩
  44. [44]Weishaar, Tom. “Open-Apple becomes A2-Central“, Open-Apple, Dec 1988: 4.84.↩
  45. [45]Smarte, Gene, and Reinhardt, Andrew. “15 Years Of Bits, Bytes, And Other Great Moments”, Byte, Sep 1990: 369-400.↩
  46. [46]—–. “A Little History of the World Wide Web”. W3C: World Wide Web Consortium. http://www.w3.org/History.html (Nov 2001)↩
  47. [47]Trotot, Jean Christophe. 2002. History Of Apple Macintosh Operating System.↩
  48. [48]inCider Staff. “100 Issues Of inCider”, inCider/A+, Apr 1991: 36-39.↩
  49. [49]Stechow, Tom. GEnie, A2 Roundtable, Aug 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.↩
  50. [50]Doms, Dennis. “Miscellanea”, Open-Apple, Dec 1989: 5.83.↩

2 Comments on “1986-1989”

  1. Lol, I just got an AppleColor composite monitor at a yard sale, for FREE, literally, I asked the owner how much it was and he said, “Just take it” so when I found out it was worth 379 dollars, i FREAKED OUT.

    Reply

    • Well, $379 is what it cost back in 1986 when it was new. Today, I seriously doubt you would be able to sell it (except perhaps to a collector) for anywhere near that amount. The Apple IIe was worth $999 when it was new; you can get it for far less today.

      Reply

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