Apple Begins Shipping System 7

More Than 100 New Third-Party Products Announced

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 13, 1991 -- PRNewswire -- Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) today announced to more than 2,000 Macintosh computer software and hardware developers that it is shipping System 7, the much-anticipated upgrade to the Macintosh operating system and the most significant enhancement to Macintosh since its introduction in 1984. The announcement took place at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose.

Today's System 7 announcement follows a string of actions taken by the company to expand the Macintosh product family to appeal to a much greater number of users. Last fall, Apple announced three new low-cost Macintosh computers, which have enjoyed brisk sales worldwide. In March, Apple lowered prices on the rest of its Macintosh product line and also announced two new affordable printers. Today, with its new System 7, Apple offers all Macintosh users a significant advance forward with even greater ease of use and powerful new features for their current Macintosh system.

"Macintosh system software is Apple's greatest strength, and we intend to use this advantage aggressively to become a much bigger player in the industry," said John Sculley, Apple's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our system software has set a standard that others have struggled to meet. System 7 sets a new standard, thereby widening the gap between what one can do with a computer, and what one can do with a Macintosh."

System 7 strengthens the Macintosh computer's usability immediately with built-in features that automatically work with thousands of new and currently shipping Macintosh applications. Some of these features include a new Finder, or "desktop," which makes using the Macintosh even easier; TrueType, which ensures sharp type quality at any size; File Sharing, which allows any user to share designated items with any other user over a network without a dedicated file server; Virtual Memory, which provides expanded availability of the computer's memory for programs; and Multitasking, which allows customers to work with multiple applications and perform several tasks concurrently.

System 7 also includes many new technologies for developers to promote more cooperation between different applications and among groups of users, and to fuel new, innovative applications software for the Macintosh. The Macintosh is the only personal computer to offer the benefits of these technologies over a network. Some of these new features include InterApplication Communication (IAC) and Data Access Manager. Based on these, and other new technologies, developers have already created more than 100 new applications, giving users completely new ways to use computers.

Industry support of System 7 has been extremely strong. All major developers now have products that are compatible with System 7. Some of these developers include Claris Corp., Microsoft Corp., Ashton-Tate, Oracle Corp., Autodesk Inc., Symantec Corp., Aldus Corp., Acius Inc., Adobe Systems Inc., Great Plains Software, Farallon Computing Inc., Interleaf Inc., WordPerfect Corp., and Novell Inc. In addition, Apple expects most of the more than 4,000 Macintosh applications currently shipping to be compatible with the new System 7.

In the United States, Apple has announced immediate availability of two System 7 upgrade products through authorized resellers. A personal upgrade kit, with all the tools and documentation to upgrade a single computer to System 7, is available for $99 manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), and a group upgrade kit, with special tools to assist in upgrading an entire office or organization to System 7, is available for $349 (MSRP). Both kits also include free phone support from Apple (the personal upgrade kit for 90 days and the group upgrade kit for 180 days). Beginning immediately in the United States, every new Macintosh computer sold will include a coupon for a free System 7 upgrade. Beginning this summer in the United States, Apple will include System 7 in the box with all new Macintosh computers. Availability, pricing, upgrade kit contents and support options outside the United States will vary by country.

/NOTE: Apple, the Apple logo, Finder and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Balloon Help and TrueType are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc.

CONTACT: Brooke Cohan of Apple Computer Inc., 408-974-3019/