On 3/26/02 12:35 PM, "Glenn L. Austin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Besides, do you think that Microsoft would *really* spend all the money on > setting up the MacBU and marketing MacOffice if it wasn't extremely > profitable to them? My guess here is that (aside from issues such as that keeping Apple around protects MS a bit from total "monopoly" considerations), companies which have even just a few Macs need to have MS Office on ALL their computers - Windows and Macs - for compatibility, so their employees can pass files to each other. In fact, even companies which have ONLY Wintels probably need Office for the same compatibility reasons: passing documents to and from clients and associates who use Macs. This is probably a lot more profitable for MS than if everyone had Windows OS on a Dell computer (for which the profit margin is probably minimal since Dell, Compaq etc. license Windows in enormous bulk) and then went out and bought Word Perfect or Lotus instead of MS Office for their Wintel machines. Since Office Mac is so good, and the Mac market not large enough, the other companies have backed out of the Mac market. As long as the MBU keeps on turning out ever better versions of Office, it will remain that way aside from tiny niche markets in specific languages or specializations that Word doesn't handle too well. So the Mac market probably keeps MS nicely profitable on the Windows side! They wouldn't put such an effort in if it weren't profitable, and it's to our advantage that it is. Keep buying Macs... -- Paul Berkowitz -- To unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/entourage-talk%40lists.letterrip.com/> old-archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/entourage-talk%40lists.boingo.com/>
