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Weblog:   Followup Mac Conversation with Microsoft
Subject:   MS on OS X
Date:   2002-08-10 08:01:17
From:   tomem
I'm a Mac user since system 6 (1989), but I used PCs on Windows 1 and 2, and a bit on 3 before that. I got to the Mac via dissatisfaction with PC software.
Back then MS Word was poor on a PC but was great on the Mac, because it had the GUI copy/paste, etc. Same for Excel, and Powerpoint was an exciting new product back then, and Mac-only until Windows 3, I believe.
My bottom line is that MS products as we now know them were developed for the Mac, have always been important on the Mac, and continue to be. Entourage is the new standard for integrated e-mail and PIM, which to me is the only way to go since PIM developers pay no attention to the need for e-mail merge (groups) in business. I do wish there was more competition for the Office suite, because it could still be better, but there really isn't at present.
OS X seems successful enough to assure that there will be a choice in OS's and software long into the future. If MS acts threatened by this it means they value their OS monopoly above their cross-platform application business. That would confirm their apparent lack of commitment to internet standards as evidenced by exploitation of proprietary document formats. By the time their current products become obsolete, there will be lots of new choices available for working with documents and data in web-compatible formats.
MS makes many great cross-platform products and would thrive in an open market even if their OS market share drops substantially. If that happens, it would be for the best that they keep giving us great cross-platform products, rather than "taking their ball and going home." But it's no catastrophe if they take the narrow-minded route.