XANADU
Ted Nelson
Nelson first conceived his futuristic vision for hypertext way back in 1960; although his idea inspired countless products, Xanadu is still pending. Autodesk worked on it from 1988 to 1992; Nelson later hooked up with Japan's Sapporo HyperLab.
OVATION
Ovation Technologies
The term vaporware was first coined to describe this integrated software package for DOS. Announced in 1983, it never shipped. That was 12 years ago.
WINDOWS 1.0
Microsoft
"Microsoft Does Windows!" gushed InfoWorld in 1983. Perhaps, but not for two more years.
MACINTOSH OFFICE
Apple Computer
Steve Jobs's infamous "reality distortion field" was running in overdrive when he an
nounced this networking solution in 1985. It didn't become real until 1987.
1-2-3/G
Lotus Development
The first graphical version of Lotus 1-2-3 (for OS/2) was announced in April 1987 but wasn't delivered until September 1990.
WINGZ FOR WINDOWS
Informix
Neat new tote bags at every Comdex. But until 1990, they were empty.
1-2-3 FOR MACINTOSH
Lotus Development
Mac users had been waiting more than four years when 1-2-3 finally shipped in 1991. Unfortunately for Lotus, most of them decided it wasn't worth the wait.
WINDOWS NT
Microsoft
In 1991, it was known as OS/2 3.0 or OS/2 NT. Then IBM and Microsoft had a little spat. When NT arrived in 1993, it was Windows all the way.
DBASE FOR WINDOWS
Borland International
Impatient dBase users tapped their toes for nearly five years. Many had walked away by the time
the Windows version finally shipped in 1994.
WINDOWS 95
Microsoft
Need we say more?
Famous Vaporware Products
