Even though the net revenue didn't budge much in 1986, the Mac came back
strong. Apple introduced the Mac Plus, with
1 MB(15) of RAM,
two floppy drives, and a
SCSI(16) port.
They also added the LaserWriter Plus and formed APDA, the Apple Product
Development Association, as a user group for Mac programmers.
Radius(17) shipped
the first external monitor, the Radius Full Page Display and
Farallon(18)
started shipping LocalTalk
connectors(19) at
much cheaper prices than Apple's. And finally, by the end of the year, the Mac
had outsold the Apple II. In 1987, the excess inventory caused all the Apple
plants to close for one week, and finally, Lisa (a.k.a. the Mac XL) was laid
to rest. The work force was again cut by 20% and Apple introduced AppleLink,
a supposedly easy way to get in touch with Apple Technical Support. Apple
introduced the AppleShare File
Server(20) which
did well, as well as the AppleFax
modem(21) and
ImageWriter LQ which did not. Finally, they also introduced the Mac SE and
the Mac II, a revolutionary computer which featured an external color monitor,
a 68020 processor(22),
and a built-in hard drive. The "Mac erector set", HyperCard, was introduced
and bundled with new computers. And with the introduction of System 6.0 and
MultiFinder(23),
users felt the need for more RAM. In 1988, Apple introduced its Mac IIx,
the first to use a high-density/PC-readable floppy drive, and the 68030
processor. By the end of the year, Apple had shipped more computers than
IBM. The first Mac
viruses(24), MacMag,
nVir, and Scores, were being discovered.