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© 1991-2007 by Steven Weyhrich
Contents
B Apple II Timeline
1969 1970 1971 1972
1973 1974 1975 1976
1977 1978 1979 1980
1981 1982 1983 1984
1987 1988 1985 1986
1989 1990 1991 1992
1993 1994 1995 1996
1997 1998 1999 2000
2001 2002 2003  
 
01 Pre-Apple History
02 The Apple-1
03 The Apple II
04 The Apple II, Cont.
05 The Disk II
06 The Apple II Plus
07 The Apple IIe
08 The Apple IIc
09 The Apple IIc Plus
10 The Apple IIGS
11 The Apple IIGS, cont.
12 Apple II Abroad / Peripherals
13 Peripherals, Cont.
14 DOS
15 DOS 3.3, ProDOS & Beyond
16 Languages
17 Languages, Cont.
18 Software
19 AppleWorks
20 Magazines
21 Magazines, Cont.
22 Telecommunications
23 Rennaisance?
 
A Apple II Software Hits
B Apple II Timeline
C Apple Geneology
D Bibliography
  Index of Hypertext Links
  Glossary
 

Appendix B: Apple II Timeline,
1986-89
v1.2 bullet 30 Jul 06

 

1986

  • Microsoft Works introduced for Macintosh.[7]

        1986 January

Macintosh Plus and LaserWriter Plus introduced.[12]

John Sculley leaves PepsiCo and becomes Chairman of Apple.[12]

Apple and Jobs reach out-of-court settlement.[12]

Applied Engineering introduces the Transwarp accelerator for the Apple II.[9]

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.[136]

        1986 February

Jobs sells all but one share of his Apple stock, leaving Mike Markkula as the largest shareholder.[12]

        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.[54]

        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.[136]

        1986 September

Apple IIGS and Apple 3.5 Drive introduced ($999).[12], [55]

Apple IIc Memory Expansion version introduced, with IIc Memory Expansion card. Apple IIe 128K price reduced.[56]

Apple II SCSI controller card and Apple Hard Disk 20SC introduced.[57]

Apple RGB Monitor ($499), Apple Monochrome Monitor ($129), and AppleColor Composite Monitor ($379) introduced.[57]

ProDOS 16 v1.0 introduced; original ProDOS becomes ProDOS 8 v1.2.[19]

Apple Programmer's and Developer's Association (APDA) created.[58]

        1986 November

Penguin Software, a pioneer in removal of copy protection, changes its name to Polarware (Penguin Books objected to the use of the name).[59]

        1986 December

ProDOS 16 v1.1[60]

 

1987


  • Commodore introduces Amiga 2000 and 500 models.[7]

        1987 January

ProDOS 8 v1.3

Platinum Apple IIe with built-in keypad introduced ($829).[9]

Mac System 3.3, Finder 5.4 (System Software 2.0) released, introducing AppleShare networking software to the Mac operating system.[136]

        1987 February

Apple II SCSI Card revision B released (fixes problems encountered when trying to use the card on the IIGS).[61]

        1987 March

Macintosh SE and Macintosh II introduced.[9]

        1987 April

ProDOS 8 v1.4

IBM PS/2 line introduced, with the first version of their OS/2 operating system.[34]

Microsoft Windows 2.0 released.[134]

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.[136]

        1987 May

Apple IIGS System Software v2.0 [60]

        1987 June

Pecan Software releases FORTRAN for the Apple IIGS.[62]

        1987 July

Claris, a software company spun-off from Apple, is announced. It will handle AppleWorks and Macintosh software previously sold by Apple.[9]

        1987 September

Apple IIGS ROM 01 upgrade.[63]

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

        1987 October

Beagle Bros introduces the TimeOut series of enhancements for AppleWorks.[64]

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.[136]

        1987 November

Applied Engineering introduces the PC Transporter.[9]

        1987 December

Apple IIGS System Software v3.1 released. It is the first version with the Finder.[60]

BASIC.SYSTEM v1.2

II Computing ceases publication.

 

1988

  • Intel introduces the 386SX processor.[7]
  • Memory chips are in short supply, and therefore quite expensive.[7]
  • dBASE IV introduced.[7]
  • A "worm" is accidentally released into the ARPANet computer network, and causes significant problems at six thousand sites across the country.[7]

        1988 January

Apple IIc Revised Memory Expansion version released.[65]

Apple's LaserWriter II family introduced.[9]

Timeworks introduces Publish-It!, the first serious desktop publishing program for the Apple II.[9]

        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.[9], [66]

Tom Weishaar (Open-Apple) begins as manager of the Apple II Roundtables on the GEnie online service.[67]

        1988 April

ProDOS 8 v1.5

        1988 May

AppleLink-Personal Edition introduced (later to become America Online ).[9]

Apple Assembly Line ceases publication.[21]

Zip Technologies introduces the Zip Chip at AppleFest. It is a 4 MHz accelerator on a single chip.[68]

        1988 June

ProDOS 8 v1.6

Mac System 6.0 released, featuring improvements to the MultiFinder and LaserWriter drivers, and support for the SuperDrive.[136],[137]

        1988 July

Apple IIGS System Software v3.2; it is the first version that can boot over an AppleTalk network.[60], [69]

        1988 August

ProDOS 8 v1.7

        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.[70]

Apple IIc Plus introduced ($675, or $1099 with color monitor).[9]

Macintosh IIx and FDHD (SuperDrive) introduced.[9]

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.[9]

        1988 November

Applied Engineering introduces the Transwarp GS accelerator.[9]

        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.[71]

Open-Apple changes its name to A2-Central for similar reasons.[72]

Apple Computer purchases the Apple Programmers and Developers Association (APDA) from A.P.P.L.E. Co-op.[72]

Steve Jobs announces the NeXT computer.[9]

 

1989

  • GRiD Systems announces the GRiDPad, a handwriting-recognizing pad.[7]

        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.[104]

Mac System 6.0.3 released, the first stable version of System 6.[137]

        1989 April

Apple II Video Overlay Card introduced.[9]

        1989 May

Roger Wagner Publishing releases HyperStudio, the first Apple IIGS hypermedia product.[9]

A+ Magazine ceases publication, merges with inCider to become inCider/A+.[31]

        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.[9]

        1989 July

First A2-Central Developer's Conference.

Apple IIGS System Software v5.0 released.[60]

        1989 August

Apple IIGS ROM 03 introduced.[9]

BASIC.SYSTEM v1.4

        1989 September

Call-A.P.P.L.E. ceases publication.[73]

Macintosh Portable and Macintosh IIci introduced.[9]

        1989 November

Softdisk GS begins publication.

        1989 December

Apple IIGS System Software v5.0.2 released.[74]

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