Apple is giving *top billing* today on its website to:

1) apple hardware
2) apple software
3) "one-click buying"
4) microsoft

and #4 wins it. full splashy add for Office....did AW6 even get that kind of support? perhaps shows how critical Office is for the platform at the moment, or maybe how critical the relationship with MSFT is...

[Scott_H]

What ever helps people buy Macs. Now if they had it preinstalled at no extra charge....

Originally posted by Scott_H:
What ever helps people buy Macs. Now if they had it preinstalled at no extra charge....

Too bad Microsoft can�t make products for it�s own OS as good as the ones it makes for Macs!

Yes, Office pre-installed would be awesome. But then what would become of Appleworks?!

Hopefully it (Appleworks) would slink back to its hole and die.

[reader50]

It took awhile to ferret out every last piece of IE and OE from my hard drive. MS Office preinstalled ... I might lose days being sure to trash it all.

And I would have had to pay for it in my Mac's purchase price.

No, that does not sound like a good suggestion. I will make an exception for Halo, but MS belongs just where I put it.

[WDL]

Since Microsoft wares are on 90% of the computers in the world, I think we're damn
lucky that they have spent the effort they have to create custom versions of Office
and Word for the Mac - this while other developers are dropping out of the Mac market
because it's only 10%. Additionally, they're putting extra features into the Mac versions
that PC users are not getting! Isn't that a switch from what we're used to from other
developers?

Can't we realize that Apple's success is in part through MS taking this approach?

Just imagine if - when the agreement between MS and Apple expires in 2002, MS
announces they're not going to develop anything further for the Mac - where are
apps like Office and Word going to come from? Certainly not from Apple from what
we have seen and are seeing!

Come on people - get real! I don't use IE and OE, or Office, or Word - but it's sure
comforting to know they're there if I want them - I would hate to be denied the choice!

In fact, only the high price (for Canadians) keeps me from getting Office or Word.

As long as MS supports the Mac OS as they have been doing for the past two years,
I wish them success, because in so doing, they're ensuring Apple's success.

I expect to be flamed for this, but I don't regret a word of this post
(except for any spelling errors or typos).

WDL

[wlonh]

i use and like AppleWorks 5.04 and so do my family members...

[WDL]

wlonh:

Agree - AppleWorks enabled me to write/publish a technical book now selling
successfully across Canada and the U.S.

However, it's a plus that other programs are available for the Mac for those
who want them. It's not a plus when developers announce they're no
longer creating for the Mac! And I give MS credit for the real effort they've
put into developing Mac programs for Mac users, which adds to the
attrativeness of the Mac for first time purchasers, and yes, we oldtimers
as well.

WDL

Originally posted by WDL:
Isn't that a switch from what we're used to from other
developers?

Not only that, but on things I've seen advertised by Microsoft that works on the Mac (like the Intellimouse), I've been seeing it listed as "Compatible with Macintosh and Windows PC's" instead of the other way around.

Seems most companies if their product is Mac compatible, either list it last or don�t even bother to list it at all!

[SillyPooh]

Come on people - get real! I don't use IE and OE, or Office, or Word - but it's sure comforting to know they're there if I want them - I would hate to be denied the choice!

We have to agree that Micro$oft has lately released some good products for the mac. They have been among the first to have their apps carbonized... that's a really good sign that things go well between the two companies. And hopefully, it should remain that way.

Even though I don't use AW myself, I know it's a product that has found its public. Why should they stop developing it?

[elzinat]

I write all of my text in SimpleText (requires 512 k RAM) and for formatting use, and am very happy with, AppleWorks 5 (4.5 MB RAM). I have looked at AW6 (10 MB), and was so saddened by the extreme ugliness that I almost wanted to cry. The last version of Word I used was 5.1a. that was a good word program. I have tried every version since then except 2001, and each was worse than the previous one.

I have a friend who considers it a great victory that he pirated M$ Office 2001. (he has told me, incidentally, that there is not a single new feature in all of office 2001 that he uses). Ha ha, he stole from m$. Then he had to buy a RAM upgrade to be able to run Word 2001, Excel 2001, and MSIE 5 at the same time. and he still is proud that he stole from m$. and saved himself money?...

what I don't understand is, what's the deal with a word processor requiring 30 MB of RAM??? why the f*ck would you want/need a word processor with a build-in 3D graphics engine for a f*cking animated paperclip? IT IS STUPID!!! and m$ has convinced you that that is neceassary for your use of your word processor to be more productive. <vomiting profusely>

and the other thing that pisses me off is that people upgrade. why the hell can't they be satisfied with better products? why do they have to go and give m$ even more of their money and then say that because you can't read the latest downward-incompatible file-type then you also have to upgrade and AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! yuck!!!!!!!!!!!! and HATE I HATE I HATE!!!!!!!!!! evil stupid people

as for office preinstalled, what next? do you want to run winblows on your mac or something? i can already see it, in a couple of years, no mac only apps left, just m$ software running on macs. then suddenly... in a move that "astounds the whole computer industry", billy discontinues all mac software. 'oh no! I guess I better upgrade to a wintel machine now because I just can't be satisfied with the superior software I'm already running!'

Fact: you can't love macs and use m$ crap. if you use m$ crap, you are killing the Macintosh. that is fact.

[garrettnelson]

I have *hated* every version of Word up until 2001, even AppleWorks 6 was better than Word 98. I think 2001 is much easier to use, and with a cleaner interface (althought that damn Office Assistant still pisses me off just as much!). But I do agree that Apple needs a big player like M$ behind it to gain any credibility, especially in the business world.

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Garrett Nelson, Webmaster, Cognition
"Are macs better than PCs? Is the Pope Catholic? Do presidents tell lies?"