Mac Office users were Microsoft 'guinea pigs'

[MacBytes]

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Category: Microsoft
Link: Mac Office users were Microsoft 'guinea pigs' (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20070305142429)
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Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)
Approved by Mudbug

[psychofreak]

If Windows got the features first, we would complain...nothing pleases people!

[PlaceofDis]

If Windows got the features first, we would complain...nothing pleases people!

did you read the article? this is hardly the most note-worth thing in there...

so Microsoft almost abandoned the Mac platform as a whole. not surprising, but would've dug them even deeper into anti-trust issues at the time.

i don't mind being a guinea pig for office, i'd rather have the suite than not at all.

[bluebomberman]

Microsoft ultimately bought some Apple stock in the infamous "return of Steve Jobs" Macworld and promised several versions of Office for the Mac. So they didn't follow through.

Doesn't mean we'll see a version of Office past the 2007 port, though...

[psychofreak]

Microsoft ultimately bought some Apple stock in the infamous "return of Steve Jobs" Macworld and promised several versions of Office for the Mac. So they didn't follow through.

Doesn't mean we'll see a version of Office past the 2007 port, though...

I think that Mac:Office 08 will be a really nice app, but the open-source movement (including my favourite, NeoOffice) will have a lot more support by the time the next version is ready to come out (office '12?), and a lot more people will opt not to bother paying...

[a456]

I'd rather be a guinea pig than a capitalist pig.:)

[nagromme]

I'd rather be a ferret.

[zero2dash]

Windows Office 2003 IMO was the high point ;)
Mac Office 2004 isn't bad but the stupid font cache tool screwed everything up for me (and none of the fixes worked, except for removing the tool altogether)

Windows Office 2007 is horrendous; I can only imagine how bad the next Mac Office will be. :eek: :confused:

[ToddW]

i think apples long term plans for iwork are going to be mac for office type of thing. it would be cool if they came up with a whole office and financial package for the mac.

[mcic1984]

I think it's worth reading the full document linked from Macworld UK -- http://edge-op.org/iowa/www.iowaconsumercase.org/122106/PLEX0_6060.pdf

quite a lot of it shows internal wrangling over Microsoft - but the actual developers of Mac office seems quite determined and passionate about bringing the product to market (which of course, they did, as Office 98 - which was one of the better releases after the disaster of Word 6).

seems a bit unfortunate for Macworld to focus on the 'threat' aspect.

am very much looking forward to Office 2008 though, the few pics that have been released look kinda like Pages and Keynote (rather than Office 2007), so it's a good sign!!!!

[Stella]

i think apples long term plans for iwork are going to be mac for office type of thing. it would be cool if they came up with a whole office and financial package for the mac.

A lot of people want to see Word on the Mac. If its not available that will deter them from switching, even if Apple have an Office suite.

If the words Microsoft and Office don't go together, then more often than not, not good it won't be good enough for the average joe / joe-ess.

[jephrey]

At this time, a stoppage of office would hurt Apple's growth. Maybe not the current customer base, but growth. It's currently easy to switch because Office reamins the most important thing for would-be switchers. Sure, we all know about other alternatives and converters, but casual users? Nah. They want office. It's surprising that Apple continues to really jab into M$ with their marketing, when the rebuttal could be the stoppage of Office for mac. Then again, maybe Apple knows something, like that it would end up hurting M$ too, or that they have been "leading a second life" making keynote and pages, and other new apps into a suite that can read and export Office files.

I can't really do without VB in excel...

J

[Stella]

Microsoft will discontinue VB in the next version of Office for Mac.



I can't really do without VB in excel...

J

[Analog Kid]

Then again, maybe Apple knows something, like that it would end up hurting M$ too, or that they have been "leading a second life" making keynote and pages, and other new apps into a suite that can read and export Office files.

I don't know what kind of deal was behind the original announcement (I think it was mostly a trojan to push IE, but what do I know...)-- but I do know that killing Office for Mac would certainly be viewed as predatory.

I also know this: no well run company makes firm business decisions because you got teased at a keynote. If MS is making money on Mac products, they'll continue to ship Mac products. If MS stopped shipping to everyone that poked fun of them they wouldn't have much of a customer list left...
If the words Microsoft and Office don't go together, then more often than not, not good it won't be good enough for the average joe / joe-ess.
Whoah... If some woman came up to me and said "Hello there, my name is Joe-ess" you better believe I'd be checking the size of her hands...

[Stella]

Whoah... If some woman came up to me and said "Hello there, my name is Joe-ess" you better believe I'd be checking the size of her hands...
lol
Jo (sans the 'e') is a girls name too.. so I suppose I didn't really need to put the -ess on the end! :-)

[iMeowbot]

The threat to cancel Microsoft Mac products back in 1997 was related to these meetings (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f2000/2010.htm#14).

See also this section (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f2000/2010.htm#8) about Office in particular.

[SMM]

The threat to cancel Microsoft Mac products back in 1997 was related to these meetings (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f2000/2010.htm#14).

See also this section (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f2000/2010.htm#8) about Office in particular.

I never read that before. Yuk....and I knew they were dirty. :eek:

[IJ Reilly]

I never read that before. Yuk....and I knew they were dirty. :eek:

This is the background to the 1997 deal between Microsoft and Apple, including Microsoft's $150 million investment in Apple. They agreed to settle their patent dispute, Microsoft agreed to continue developing Office for the Mac, and, so it appears, to let Apple continue developing QuickTime. Apple agreed to call MSIE the default browser for the MacOS.

[iMeowbot]

I never read that before. Yuk....and I knew they were dirty. :eek:
It's funny, Gates was booed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxOp5mBY9IY) when the deal was announced, and the dirty tricks leading up to it weren't even public at the time.

[SPUY767]

Steve did what was necessary at the time. The rest is history. A comeback not seen before or since was orchestrated, and the tech landscape is a far different place because of what transpired. Microsoft is, has been, and always will be a company that will bang you one day, and leave you cut, bruised, and naked in a urine-soaked alley the next. It's how they got to the top and strong-arming partners into one-sided deals is the only way that they can survive since innovation was thrown out with the bathwater oh so many years ago.

[DMann]

Windows Office 2003 IMO was the high point ;)
Mac Office 2004 isn't bad but the stupid font cache tool screwed everything up for me (and none of the fixes worked, except for removing the tool altogether)

Windows Office 2007 is horrendous; I can only imagine how bad the next Mac Office will be. :eek: :confused:

Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--bloat.....................

[solvs]

I can't really do without VB in excel...

Microsoft will discontinue VB in the next version of Office for Mac.

Microsoft will discontinue VB in the next version of Office for Windows too. ;)

[Stella]

Microsoft will discontinue VB in the next version of Office for Windows too. ;)

Thats going to cause of a lot of people headaches.

The Office apps will still be scriptable in some way?

[Snowy_River]

Microsoft will discontinue VB in the next version of Office for Windows too. ;)

Link?

[zero2dash]

Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--bloat.....................

Amen to that :D

[solvs]

Thats going to cause of a lot of people headaches.

The Office apps will still be scriptable in some way?

Link?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic_for_Applications

Scroll to the bottom. I read it in the original MacWorld article about it when the story first broke, but that's the first link I found doing a Google search. They're replacing it with Visual Studio Tools for Applications based on .Net. In the Betas, Office '07 still uses VB because they haven't gotten VSTA working right yet, especially with regards to backwards compatibility. In the original story I read, they were just going to the new way and there was no mention of supporting all the old stuff once the new worked, but that seems to have changed. There's even a chance that they'll leave VB in the next release if VSTA still doesn't work.

So if they do keep VB as-is in the Windows version, makes no sense to take it out of the Mac version unless eventually they're going to just tell people to run Windows on the Mac like many expect.

(for the record, I know someone at VMWare who's running the Windows version of Office '07 in Fusion faster than the Mac version natively on his MBP if that tells you anything, Rosetta or not)

[shamino]

Windows Office 2007 is horrendous; I can only imagine how bad the next Mac Office will be. :eek: :confused:
Fortunately, I don't think I'll ever have to upgrade.

My company has instituted all kinds of draconian security policies that pretty much forbid me from working on any company documents on my personal computer (meaning I'll have to get a company-owned laptop if they want me to work from home when I get snowed-in.)

As a result of this, the only Office documents I'll ever have to work with at home are the ones I make myself. Which I can ensure will always be compatible with O:2004, by simply not upgrading :D.

I suppose Rosetta may someday go away, forcing me to buy a new office suite, but I'll worry about that when it happens. Right now, since I'm still using a PowerMac/G4, even that is a moot point.

[rdowns]

Link?

http://www.macworld.com/2006/12/opinion/microsoft/

[eric_n_dfw]

Windows Office 2007 is horrendous; I can only imagine how bad the next Mac Office will be. :eek: :confused:

Really? People like Leo Laporte (Mac OS X advocate and former TechTV host) have been really talking up the new "ribbon" interface. I've not used it myself, but it sounds pretty nice.

[phuong]

Really? People like Leo Laporte (Mac OS X advocate and former TechTV host) have been really talking up the new "ribbon" interface. I've not used it myself, but it sounds pretty nice.

it's true.
i remember a few months back when Vista was still in beta, people were comparing it with OSX, and then talked about Office 2007 (also in beta) and said how much ugly it was. but i've been working on excel 2007 days in & days out (in parallels' coherence, of course) for 2+ months now. i can't say the new interface is innovative, but it is certainly great. very friendly, easy and flexible. in fact after working on it for hours, i find the lightblue - cyan color theme pretty pleasing, unlike how it was in the old versions with the grey-ish color theme. a lot of improvements on functionality too.
hell i wish Photoshop would replace their toolbar interface with a ribbon-like interface in some future version.

[biturbomunkie]

Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--Bloat, bloat, Bloat BLOAT--bloat.....................

i actually am quite impressed with how smooth office '07 runs under parallels, it's almost as if it was os x native. not one instant i experienced a pause when typing, like i do when i use ooo or office '04.

there's a learning curve;however, office '07 ui is really different.

[biturbomunkie]

in fact after working on it for hours, i find the lightblue - cyan color theme pretty pleasing, unlike how it was in the old versions with the grey-ish color theme.

i actually spent almost 40 mins just to figure out how to switch the fisher-price blue to black... :D

[DMann]

i actually am quite impressed with how smooth office '07 runs under parallels, it's almost as if it was os x native. not one instant i experienced a pause when typing, like i do when i use ooo or office '04.

there's a learning curve;however, office '07 ui is really different.

Hopefully, the Mac version will not be as different. All this talk of ribbons really has me wondering....

[Peace]

Pardon my French but after reading all this there has to be a point where we say

**** YOU MS

.

[eluk]

Pardon my French but after reading all this there has to be a point where we say

**** YOU MS

.

I did it when I bought this MBP. :D