MacBU is located in both Redmond and Mountain View. The team is split roughly 50/50 between the two locations. We also have small teams in Ireland, China, and Japan.
It's encouraging to see a Mac BU person visiting the forums. I suspect that others like Apple do the same but do so anonymously.
Having said that, I hope you read some of the responses here to your latest version of office. No not the 'M$ suxs' stuff but those with valid and legitimate complaints about Office 2008. As a user of Office 2004 I have refused to upgrade to 2008 because of the poor performance and lack of compelling features in your 2008 version.
While many would love to see office on the iPhone we need a desktop version of office that we like first.
Is it just me or do people have strange expectations of the iPhone..
I don't see it as a desktop replacement, so why on earth would I want MS Office?
I can't understand wy you would want this type of software?????
is it just me ??
Yepper! It's just you!
Nah, i don't think it's just you, however, from a corporate point of view those tools would be necessary. For a personal media point of view, i don't think office would all that important or popular. But again, think in terms of corporate solution for this announcement, and not personal iPhone user.
God help us if the Mac BU team starts to write email software for iPhone. They *still* can't get Entourage to have the same integration with Exchange that Outlook has. Sheesh!
I don't know how you came up with that profit margin. No where in quote you referenced is there info on operating expenses.
Well, the info is from Fortune. I'm not sure where they would have derived that info from - quarterly SEC filings is what I would think. So when they say "profit", I assume they have deducted expenses, R&D, etc. to come up with profit.
For the record, I don't begrudge MS or Apple their profits. If people think they will ge more return on their money than the asking price and therefore buy the products in question, it sounds like MS/Apple are doing a good job.
Is it just me or do people have strange expectations of the iPhone..
I don't see it as a desktop replacement, so why on earth would I want MS Office?
I can't understand wy you would want this type of software?????
is it just me ??
Because you're thinking of MS Office on an iPhone to behave like a desktop app. The ability to take your PowerPoint document with you, and then maybe make simple edits before hooking up to a projector, can be pretty helpful.
I'm not sure what the possibilities are, but it will get interesting.
The first Paragraph was edited from this original version:
Microsoft Corp. has been taking a long hard look at Apple's iPhone software developers kit (SDK) since it was released earlier this month in hopes of profiting from the thriving mobile platform by releasing a few native applications of its own.
"I wish we could just write one application this clean and useful" Said the spokesman. " We have some of the highest paid Software Engineering Meat on the planet, and we just can't figure out how to do an SDK as elegant as this. We are just gonna have to throw another 2 or 2 gross of them at this in the near future. We can just shift them out of the Vista Driver Office Complex, no one would even notice."
iT sounds like MSFT is telling tales out of school. Maye they will make some in-roads, really they just want their iPhone, the mac vs. PC ads are making everyone suffer, namely Redmond. All hail iKing!
Well, the info is from Fortune. I'm not sure where they would have derived that info from - quarterly SEC filings is what I would think. So when they say "profit", I assume they have deducted expenses, R&D, etc. to come up with profit.
For the record, I don't begrudge MS or Apple their profits. If people think they will ge more return on their money than the asking price and therefore buy the products in question, it sounds like MS/Apple are doing a good job.
On second thought.. I think you are right. My bad.
It's encouraging to see a Mac BU person visiting the forums. I suspect that others like Apple do the same but do so anonymously.
Having said that, I hope you read some of the responses here to your latest version of office. No not the 'M$ suxs' stuff but those with valid and legitimate complaints about Office 2008. As a user of Office 2004 I have refused to upgrade to 2008 because of the poor performance and lack of compelling features in your 2008 version.
While many would love to see office on the iPhone we need a desktop version of office that we like first.
We're definitely aware of the responses that we've had, both good and bad. We've already released an update (12.0.1) to fix some of the issues that our users reported, which has improved stability and performance across the suite. As we did with Office 2004, we plan to release updates that improve the experience for our users as we become aware of new issues, so keep your eyes open for those.
MacTech magazine has been doing benchmarking of our apps, and their tests show that Office 2008 generally performs better than Office 2004. The full article is in their March issue, but you can read their preview of it online here:
"[Microsoft] is already the largest software developer for Apple's Mac platform outside of the Mac maker itself" isn't accurate.
It's one of the biggest, but not the biggest - unless you're just counting revenues for Microsoft as a whole, which would be meaningless. (They'd also be the biggest video game maker, the biggest cable news channel, the biggest search engine etc.)
Adobe says they get 22-25% of their revenues from "Macintosh customers or software that runs on the Mac" - which, in those terms, makes them twice as large as Microsoft at ~$700M revenues from Mac software.
Before the MSBU goes about developing applications for the iPhone, this Mac user would rather they set themselves to developing the long-needed and requested cross-platform video chat functionality in Messenger. My two cents. :-P
Because you're thinking of MS Office on an iPhone to behave like a desktop app. The ability to take your PowerPoint document with you, and then maybe make simple edits before hooking up to a projector, can be pretty helpful.
I'm not sure what the possibilities are, but it will get interesting.
Powerpoint might actually be one of the few applications that might actually work on the iPhone...but I don't see any serious computer user making use of Excel or Word on the touchscreen iPHone which is barely adequate for e-mail and texting--
Personally, I think the ridiculous touchscreen is the biggest downfall of the iPhone -- now 9 months down the road, my typing is STILL at least 10 times slower on the iPhone than any previous smartphone I have owned with a normal qwerty keyboard. I know I speak for many many business users who would never use the iPhone for typing.
But that being said, I would think iWork and the fine Keynote program would be ported by Apple long before they permit any Microsoft software on the iPhone -- remember, Apple is making the decision about every single piece of software for the iPhone to approve or disapprove...
They already have their own office suite that will get preference...and they already have their own close relationship with FileMaker (via the recent Bento in particular) to serve as a database point of transfer...
I would love to see what eventually comes of MS's efforts though.
Using a stylus isn't going to work at all, since the iphone's screen requires the touch of a human body part. Tapping the screen with a plastic or metal object would produce nothing.
I think it requires breaking the total internal reflection of the glass. How about something like rubber tip?
I don't know how you came up with that profit margin. No where in quote you referenced is there info on operating expenses.
Actually, what they are likely referring to is the "operating margin" (i.e., "EBIT," i.e., earnings before interest and taxes, i.e., Revenues minus Operating Expenses). To put that number into perspective, MSFT's "Business Services" segment (primarily MS Office) had 2007 revenues of $16.4B, and 2007 operating income of $10.7B, an operating margin of roughly 65%.
So the 57% for Mac-related stuff is, if anything, low. Probably because of the extra costs involved in the switchover to Office 2008.
Comments
MacBU is located in both Redmond and Mountain View. The team is split roughly 50/50 between the two locations. We also have small teams in Ireland, China, and Japan.
Regards,
Nadyne.
--
Nadyne Mielke | user experience researcher
Microsoft Corporation | Macintosh Business Unit
http://blogs.msdn.com/nadyne/
It's encouraging to see a Mac BU person visiting the forums. I suspect that others like Apple do the same but do so anonymously.
Having said that, I hope you read some of the responses here to your latest version of office. No not the 'M$ suxs' stuff but those with valid and legitimate complaints about Office 2008. As a user of Office 2004 I have refused to upgrade to 2008 because of the poor performance and lack of compelling features in your 2008 version.
While many would love to see office on the iPhone we need a desktop version of office that we like first.
Is it just me or do people have strange expectations of the iPhone..
I don't see it as a desktop replacement, so why on earth would I want MS Office?
I can't understand wy you would want this type of software?????
is it just me ??
Without drag and drop for cells in excel, the iPhone just won't catch on......
(that's a joke, the MS people won't realize if I don't say so.....)
Is it just me or do people have strange expectations of the iPhone..
I don't see it as a desktop replacement, so why on earth would I want MS Office?
I can't understand wy you would want this type of software?????
is it just me ??
Yepper! It's just you!
Nah, i don't think it's just you, however, from a corporate point of view those tools would be necessary. For a personal media point of view, i don't think office would all that important or popular. But again, think in terms of corporate solution for this announcement, and not personal iPhone user.
Fortune's Big Tech blog estimating that its Mac Business Unit generates revenues in excess of $350 million and profits of over $200 million each year.
57% Profit Margin
And people complain that Apple makes too much money?
57% Profit Margin
And people complain that Apple makes too much money?
I don't know how you came up with that profit margin. No where in quote you referenced is there info on operating expenses.
I don't know how you came up with that profit margin. No where in quote you referenced is there info on operating expenses.
Well, the info is from Fortune. I'm not sure where they would have derived that info from - quarterly SEC filings is what I would think. So when they say "profit", I assume they have deducted expenses, R&D, etc. to come up with profit.
For the record, I don't begrudge MS or Apple their profits. If people think they will ge more return on their money than the asking price and therefore buy the products in question, it sounds like MS/Apple are doing a good job.
I don't know how you came up with that profit margin. No where in quote you referenced is there info on operating expenses.
Ah.... profits of over 200 million.
Revenue of 350 million.
If you make 200 million on 350 million, that's 57 percent.
(I'm using a MAC calculator so you may want to check me on Excel in Office for MAC 2008)
Is it just me or do people have strange expectations of the iPhone..
I don't see it as a desktop replacement, so why on earth would I want MS Office?
I can't understand wy you would want this type of software?????
is it just me ??
Because you're thinking of MS Office on an iPhone to behave like a desktop app. The ability to take your PowerPoint document with you, and then maybe make simple edits before hooking up to a projector, can be pretty helpful.
I'm not sure what the possibilities are, but it will get interesting.
Microsoft Corp. has been taking a long hard look at Apple's iPhone software developers kit (SDK) since it was released earlier this month in hopes of profiting from the thriving mobile platform by releasing a few native applications of its own.
"I wish we could just write one application this clean and useful" Said the spokesman. " We have some of the highest paid Software Engineering Meat on the planet, and we just can't figure out how to do an SDK as elegant as this. We are just gonna have to throw another 2 or 2 gross of them at this in the near future. We can just shift them out of the Vista Driver Office Complex, no one would even notice."
Thunk Different.
Thunk Different.
Well, the info is from Fortune. I'm not sure where they would have derived that info from - quarterly SEC filings is what I would think. So when they say "profit", I assume they have deducted expenses, R&D, etc. to come up with profit.
For the record, I don't begrudge MS or Apple their profits. If people think they will ge more return on their money than the asking price and therefore buy the products in question, it sounds like MS/Apple are doing a good job.
On second thought.. I think you are right. My bad.
It's encouraging to see a Mac BU person visiting the forums. I suspect that others like Apple do the same but do so anonymously.
Having said that, I hope you read some of the responses here to your latest version of office. No not the 'M$ suxs' stuff but those with valid and legitimate complaints about Office 2008. As a user of Office 2004 I have refused to upgrade to 2008 because of the poor performance and lack of compelling features in your 2008 version.
While many would love to see office on the iPhone we need a desktop version of office that we like first.
We're definitely aware of the responses that we've had, both good and bad. We've already released an update (12.0.1) to fix some of the issues that our users reported, which has improved stability and performance across the suite. As we did with Office 2004, we plan to release updates that improve the experience for our users as we become aware of new issues, so keep your eyes open for those.
MacTech magazine has been doing benchmarking of our apps, and their tests show that Office 2008 generally performs better than Office 2004. The full article is in their March issue, but you can read their preview of it online here:
http://www.mactech.com/articles/mact...2008Benchmark/
Regards,
Nadyne.
--
Nadyne Mielke | user experience researcher
Microsoft Corporation | Macintosh Business Unit
http://blogs.msdn.com/nadyne/
It's one of the biggest, but not the biggest - unless you're just counting revenues for Microsoft as a whole, which would be meaningless. (They'd also be the biggest video game maker, the biggest cable news channel, the biggest search engine etc.)
Adobe says they get 22-25% of their revenues from "Macintosh customers or software that runs on the Mac" - which, in those terms, makes them twice as large as Microsoft at ~$700M revenues from Mac software.
Because you're thinking of MS Office on an iPhone to behave like a desktop app. The ability to take your PowerPoint document with you, and then maybe make simple edits before hooking up to a projector, can be pretty helpful.
I'm not sure what the possibilities are, but it will get interesting.
Powerpoint might actually be one of the few applications that might actually work on the iPhone...but I don't see any serious computer user making use of Excel or Word on the touchscreen iPHone which is barely adequate for e-mail and texting--
Personally, I think the ridiculous touchscreen is the biggest downfall of the iPhone -- now 9 months down the road, my typing is STILL at least 10 times slower on the iPhone than any previous smartphone I have owned with a normal qwerty keyboard. I know I speak for many many business users who would never use the iPhone for typing.
But that being said, I would think iWork and the fine Keynote program would be ported by Apple long before they permit any Microsoft software on the iPhone -- remember, Apple is making the decision about every single piece of software for the iPhone to approve or disapprove...
They already have their own office suite that will get preference...and they already have their own close relationship with FileMaker (via the recent Bento in particular) to serve as a database point of transfer...
I would love to see what eventually comes of MS's efforts though.
Using a stylus isn't going to work at all, since the iphone's screen requires the touch of a human body part. Tapping the screen with a plastic or metal object would produce nothing.
I think it requires breaking the total internal reflection of the glass. How about something like rubber tip?
I don't know how you came up with that profit margin. No where in quote you referenced is there info on operating expenses.
Actually, what they are likely referring to is the "operating margin" (i.e., "EBIT," i.e., earnings before interest and taxes, i.e., Revenues minus Operating Expenses). To put that number into perspective, MSFT's "Business Services" segment (primarily MS Office) had 2007 revenues of $16.4B, and 2007 operating income of $10.7B, an operating margin of roughly 65%.
So the 57% for Mac-related stuff is, if anything, low. Probably because of the extra costs involved in the switchover to Office 2008.