Um no it was “Apple is the Windows killer” from about 1990 to 94 then they started having problems, then OS2 Warp became the first software package ever to outsell DOS and it became “OS2 is the Windows killer”, then IBM screwed that pooch by not including the ability to run 32-bit Windows apps in Warp 4, then for like a week it because “Netscape and the desktop extensions and web apps is the Windows killer” but by the end of that week everybody realized that the desktop extension thing sucked and in a dial-up world web apps were a bad idea, then they glommed onto Linux but that was mostly out of desperation to find a Windows killer. Finally they gave up on finding a Windows killer, but then Steve rode to the rescue with OSX and walla the world once again had a “Windows killer”. Of course these days it seems the press thinks Vista is the Windows killer, but they always say Mac will pick it up after MS is done killing themselves.
There’s simply no way the press thought Apple was doomed from 88 to 01, for one thing 89 to 91 is considered the first golden age. Things didn’t start looking hairy for Apple until they had a string of failures like the Newton and the PowerMac/PC, that’s when “Apple is doomed” started, because that’s also when they started losing a lot of money, and the market share started nose diving.
90-94? Apple being touted *by the press* as a Windows killer? No.
By 90, Apple had been pigeonholed as a high-end niche maker and relegated to the same section of coverage as NeXT.
NeXT actually got better press. Take a look at BYTE from that era. The library should have copies.