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How long will Bill Gates stand with us?

post #1 of 16
1/11/02 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
Is there a contract deciding how long M$ is going to support the macintosh platform? Maybe even if their contract runs out they will renew it because the mac platform is just another cash source.

Take a look at this 1997 historical moment.

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/macintosh4" target="_blank">http://homepage.mac.com/macintosh4</a>

[ 01-11-2002: Message edited by: Macintosh ]</p>
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post #2 of 16
1/11/02 at 3:47pm
They don't need a contract to develop Macintosh software.
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post #3 of 16
1/11/02 at 3:50pm
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by MacAgent:
<strong>They don't need a contract to develop Macintosh software.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I thnk they signed one in 1997 for a five year deal. They probably should continue to though, that is if they like being a monopoly with a heart.

[ 01-11-2002: Message edited by: Macintosh ]</p>
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post #4 of 16
1/11/02 at 4:55pm
Apple is not even on Microsofts Radar anymore. Their largest threat is Linux. I don't expect them to pull Microsofts SW...they don't need to.
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He's a mod so he has a few extra vBulletin privileges. That doesn't mean he should stop posting or should start acting like Digital Jesus.
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post #5 of 16
1/11/02 at 5:58pm
[quote]Apple is not even on Microsofts Radar anymore. Their largest threat is Linux. I don't expect them to pull Microsofts SW...they don't need to. <hr></blockquote>

Apple still has a larger worldwide market share than Linux, and now controls the world's 'Easiest to use UNIX based OS'. But I think Microsoft realizes that there will always be the 5-6% of us who will always buy a Mac. I have no plans to buy a Windows based PC, and no reason to either. I don't own anything that Microsoft has produced other than my XBox which I won. I have never spent a cent on a Microsoft product. I don't plan on it either.

We'll have to see what Microsoft will do when the 5 year agreement expires. A lot of people seem to think that the Mac platform can't survive without Office. We'll just have to wait and see I guess, but I don't think they will drop support for a while.
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post #6 of 16
1/11/02 at 6:44pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, come on people. Of course Microsoft will continue development for Apple. They've said the MBU is very profitable.

Besides, Bill obviously likes Apple. Why else would he have kept Apple afloat with that contract back in 97? If you will recall, Apple was sinking like the Titanic.
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post #7 of 16
1/11/02 at 7:21pm
I would imaging they're very profitable... holy crap v10 is expensive.

(office is making an effort to be legal on software--finally)
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post #8 of 16
1/12/02 at 8:40am
Gates would develop Office for toasters if he thought he could sell enough.
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post #9 of 16
1/12/02 at 1:17pm
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>Oh, come on people. Of course Microsoft will continue development for Apple. They've said the MBU is very profitable.

Besides, Bill obviously likes Apple. Why else would he have kept Apple afloat with that contract back in 97? If you will recall, Apple was sinking like the Titanic.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I was under the impression that they kept Apple afloat back in 1997 not because they liked Apple, but because if Apple went under then it would be harder to convince the DOJ that they did not have a monopoly.
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post #10 of 16
1/12/02 at 1:56pm
Wait...Bill Gates is standing...*WITH* us? When did this start happening? I thought he just wanted to feel like he controls the Mac market by virtue of MS Office...or maybe wanted to keep us afloat so he could argue he doesn't have a monopoly.

I had no idea his intentions were upstanding! To think I thought Bill and Co. were an underhanded bunch....all along they were just trying to be helpful to us and make SOHO computing easier for Mac users! Wow...



[ 01-12-2002: Message edited by: Moogs ]</p>
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post #11 of 16
1/12/02 at 5:35pm
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:
<strong>...but because if Apple went under then it would be harder to convince the DOJ that they did not have a monopoly.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Maybe... but I remember very clearly that in the documents published in the DOJ trial, Apple was pointed out as not being competition with Microsoft. If not to keep Apple as "competition" for the trial, why else??
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post #12 of 16
1/13/02 at 12:30am
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>
Maybe... but I remember very clearly that in the documents published in the DOJ trial, Apple was pointed out as not being competition with Microsoft. If not to keep Apple as "competition" for the trial, why else??</strong><hr></blockquote>

pointed out by whom? Microsoft or DOJ? i can't remember
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post #13 of 16
1/13/02 at 3:29am
Thread Starter 
[quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:
<strong>pointed out by whom? Microsoft or DOJ? i can't remember</strong><hr></blockquote>IIRC (of course, it has been a long time) the judge declined to consider Apple a real competitor in the same market as Microsoft. I remember this so well because the online community was making a big fuss about it.

Maybe someone else can shad some more light on it?
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post #14 of 16
1/13/02 at 11:54pm
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>IIRC (of course, it has been a long time) the judge declined to consider Apple a real competitor in the same market as Microsoft. I remember this so well because the online community was making a big fuss about it.

Maybe someone else can shad some more light on it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
well then if it wasn't Microsoft saying this, and it was only the judge that didn't consider Apple as a competitor, then Microsoft could have still bailed Apple out, hoping that Apple would be a competitor, but not knowing that they weren't?
if that made sense.
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post #15 of 16
1/14/02 at 11:52am
  • Escher
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[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>
If not to keep Apple as "competition" for the trial, why else??</strong><hr></blockquote>

Simply to make money. I read a few months back that Microsoft had unloaded all of the Apple shares it bought in 1997. If they timed the sale right (and I'm sure they did), they got a nice return on their investment.

Escher
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"The only laptop computer that's useful is the one you have with you."
Until we get a 3 lbs sub-PowerBook, the 12-inch PowerBook will do.
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post #16 of 16
1/14/02 at 12:38pm
I wasn't aware that Bill ever stood with us Mac users.
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AI Member since 1998.

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