Mac users 'guinea pigs' for Mac Office?
updated 10:10 am EST, Mon March 5, 2007
Mac users test subjects?
The ongoing anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft in the state of Iowa has uncovered evidence that the Redmond-based company considered halting Mac Office development to "do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately," and that the company used Mac users as test subjects for new features of its Office application prior to a more "critical" Windows release. An email memo dated June of 1997 from Microsoft founder Bill Gates to Ben Waldman, who then served as the leader of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, discussed the morale in the Mac Office development department and mentioned abandoning Mac support for Office. The memo cited unsatisfactory sales of Mac Office, blaming sales reps who lacked focus. That same email describes dumping Mac Office as "the strongest bargaining point we have, as doing so will do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately."
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2000
Not surprised
Jobs knew it, too, that's why he squeezed that 5-year commitment to keep developing Mac Office out of them back in '97.
It's much less of an issue now, since Apple is a spreadsheet application away from having their own office suite-- and that's if you don't want to run Windows Office in a virtual machine.