Microsoft To Sweeten Office '08 Deal Even Further
Deal to allegedly include free 24" iMac
Redmond, WA, Dec. 12, AP -- In a stunning move, Microsoft chairman Steve Balmer announced Microsoft's plans to give away a free iMac with the purchase of Microsoft Office 2008, a port of their flagship product for users of Mac OS X-based Apple computers.
This comes as a stunning move by the software giant, which has had a number of troubled product releases in the past 18 months, such as the failed "Zune" iPod competitor, and Windows Vista -- the first product in Microsoft's history where users and volume OEM resellers such as Dell and HP have been clamoring for previous-version OSs instead, touting them as an "upgrade". The Office '08 product has also had it's share of set-backs, having seen it's release delayed well into Q1-Q2 of 2008.
"It's something we've been considering," said Balmer in a telephone interview today from his private 500' long yacht. "Hey, can you turn that damn 'Monkey Boy' music video down?" he suddenly shouted, trying to mute the phone as he did so. "Sorry. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Bill and I have been in conference calls with several senior members of our Macintosh Business Unit, as well a number of our domestic partners, and the consensus has been this will be beneficial to our premium product placement."
Analysts have been critical of Microsoft in recent months, given numerous delays to Microsoft's Mac version and the fact that two of it's most serious competitors -- namely, Apple's iWork 08 and the free OpenOffice.org project -- have been slowly but steadily gaining both market-, as well as mindshare.
"I'm absolutely shocked," says MacRumors.com's own Arnold Kim, who was on retreat at his palatial Naples, Italy winter home and spoke with us via video chat. "Although when viewed in the context that Microsoft will go to seemingly-incredible lengths to promote their products, it's not as unforeseeable as it might otherwise be. Really, this is just a next-level move, considering their X-Box and X-Box 360 strategies."
"It's totally crazy," says fellow veteran MacRumors.com poster MadJew. "I'm reminded of something MikeTheC has used as an analogy, though. It's what they used to say about the F-4 Phantom -- 'with enough thrust, you can fly a brick.'"
Sources close to Apple CEO Steve Jobs have hinted Mr. Jobs will have something even more incredible to announce to counter this at his annual MacWorld trade-show keynote address in January. "G5 MacBook Pros this Thursday," commented one source who asked not to be identified.