One of the most interesting announcements made during Steve Jobsi keynote at Macworld on Tuesday was about the impending release of a new version of Microsoft Office for the Mac. It was interesting, not just because Microsoft demoed some "Mac only" features of the new Office, but because of MacBUis General Manager, Roz Ho, and her assessment of the relationship between Microsoft and the Mac over the years. "Microsoft was there from the beginning," she said, and went on to lay out a history of Microsoft Word and the Mac that many may have found a bit eye-opening.
In their continuing coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Mac, Wired News has posted an article detailing the relationship between Apple, Appleis user community, and Microsoft. Hereis a bit of the article titled, Appleis Unlikely Guardian Angel:
Though many Mac users might hate to admit it, Microsoft has solidly supported the Mac from the get-go.
"A lot of developers quit the Mac platform, but Microsoft wasnit among them," said a former Apple marketing manager who worked at the company through the mid- and late 1990s and asked to remain anonymous.
"During the dark days they kept developing Office, and that was way important," the source added. "That was the true test of loyalty. Others werenit so loyal."
The source said Office is so important to the Mac, without it the platform would have withered away. "To have a mainstream platform, youive got to have Office," he said.
Of course, no company in the Mac universe is as reviled as Microsoft. The company is hated for its apparent desire to brutishly dominate every business it touches. Where Apple is seen by Mac enthusiasts as creative and individualistic, Microsoft is corporate and conformist; Apple is elegant and easy to use, while Microsoft is ugly and buggy.
The article goes on to discuss the many aspects of the relationship between Apple and Microsoft, and is ultimately a good read. Stop by Wired News for the full article.