Apple bids Microsoft Adieu

July 26, 2002

If you follow the ongoing saga that is Apple, then you've probably seen some of the stories surrounding last week's Macworld. I explained some of the new products and vented frustration, but it seems something even bigger is going on.

Two Mondays ago, Microsoft annouced their new version of Windows Media Player that will compete with Quicktime 6. They also voiced frustration with the number of copies of Office v.X sold (only 300,000 when they were expecting 750k, but who can blame consumers when 4 pieces of software cost $500?). Essentially, Microsoft thinks Apple is not supporting Mac OS X enough and it's losing everyone money. The line in the sand is starting to be drawn.

Today, the OS X developer build of OpenOffice was released and Apple announced they will be partnering with Sun to create a consumer-friendly version of OpenOffice that Sun works on called StarOffice. OpenOffice will also be available but Sun's version is coupled with fonts and other things that require licensing. Cost to consumers for OpenOffice: $0. StarOffice: $50 (maybe).

This sounds like it could be a Microsoft-killer. Office is the only thing Mac users rely on from Microsoft. I'll end this all with a great quote from one of the Sun people.

"I don't want to sell StarOffice for OS X," Siress said. "I want Apple to bundle it. I'll give them the code. I'd love it if I could get the team at Apple to do joint development and they distribute it at no cost--that it's their product. Nobody makes a product more beautiful on Apple than Apple."

Advertisement