“Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit, aka the Mac BU, just released the long – awaited Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Office 2004 Macintosh. In recent months, they announced their commitment to not only the next version of Office, ‘Office 12’ for the Mac, but also to supporting the new XML formats that Office 12 on Windows will have,” John C. Welch writes for bynkii.com. “(Note that you’re going to have to go to Mac news sources on the Apple 2005 WorldWide Developer Conference to get the annnouncement from Roz Ho about Mac Office 12, and to Rick Schaut’s blog to get the XML announcement. Finding information on the Mac BU from Microsoft is like finding out about that brother that no one in the family likes. I’m kind of surprised the SP 2 announcement even made it into PressPass. The Mac BU tends to get ignored by the rest of the company.)”
Welch writes, “That last statement The Mac BU tends to get ignored by the rest of the company is a critical one, and the reason for this article. The Mac BU, and Microsoft’s treatment of them, are at a crossroads. Yes, they’ve made some good announcements, and yes, I think they’ll deliver as much as they’re able, or allowed to. I know some of the folks there, and who have worked there in the past, and they are brilliant, focused, and do the best work they can for the resources they have. The Mac BU’s problems aren’t caused because they don’t care about their customers. The Mac BU’s problems are caused because, from what anyone can see, Microsoft doesn’t really care about the Mac BU, and doesn’t really consider the Mac BU’s customers to be ‘real’ Microsoft customers.”
Full article here.
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Microsoft executives discuss Apple competition: preventing Apple from leveraging iPod success – September 23, 2005
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