• Quark starts shipping QuarkXPress for the Macintosh. The first Windows version comes out 5 years later.

• Illustrator 1.0 is published for Macintosh. A Windows version doesn’t appear until 1989. Adobe primarily creates the application as a demonstration of the capabilities of its PostScript page description language. Many of the settings in the program directly refer to the matching PostScript operators.

• Iris Graphics, a Massachusetts based company, creates the Iris 3024. This digital proof printer is the first in a long line of printers, including the Iris 3047 shown below. In 2000 the company is acquired by Scitex. The 1995 Scitex Iris Realist is another groundbreaking proofing device.

• ImageStudio from Letraset is the leading gray-scale image-editing program for Macintosh and a source of inspiration for the developers of Photoshop. Another popular image edition program and my personal favorite is Digital Darkroom.

• PC-users can upgrade to MS-DOS 3.3 or enhance their video capabilities with VGA.

• Linotype starts producing PostScript typefaces which they license to Adobe.

• The Macintosh SE costs $2900 at its introduction. It has an expansion slot and an optional built-in 40 MB hard disk. The new Macintosh II is even more expandable. The Extended Keyboard II that ships with these systems is the best keyboard I have ever used.

<1986 - 1988>