Apple Moves Back Debut of Macintosh Software

Wall Street Journal

Cupertino, Calif. -- May 10, 1990 -- The Macintosh System 7, a software upgrade to Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh that was originally slated for a summer debut, now won't be ready until year end.

Apple has billed the product as "the most dramatic advance in Macintosh software since 1984. Nevertheless the company tried to put a good face on the development, downplaying its effect on pressure from competing systems such as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 3 product and others.

The announcement came at a Macintosh developers conference, where developers were given early versions of the product to test.

"We told everybody last year that we were going to shoot for late summer," said Jim Davis, director of systems software marketing. "What we're committing to now is the end of the year."

"It's probably for the better," he said, because the delay will give developers more time to test the limits of the new system, which incorporates new functions into the popular machine, such as ease of access to large data bases.

"Software is hard," Mr. Davis added. "To get within five or six months {of a forecast} is pretty good."