Apple Slams Microsoft Settlement 31
Versaj writes "In a move that may further escalate the growing rift between Apple and Microsoft, Apple openly condemned Microsoft's $1.1bn settlement to in the recent class action lawsuit. Apple interprets the settlement as Microsoft's attempt to thwart competition in the California education market. "Remember: this is a settlement imposed against Microsoft for breaking the law. It should not allow Microsoft to unfairly compete in education, one of the few remaining markets where it doesn't have monopoly power.""
Makes sense.. (Score:5, Interesting)
The next logical step, would, of course, be to have an Apple branded office suite to compete with Microsoft Office (perhaps a mega-AppleWorks). Perhaps they are already porting OpenOffice or KOffice (or Gobe).
Re:Makes sense.. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Makes sense.. (Score:3, Insightful)
From the people I know who use Excel extensively, Appleworks does not cut it as a spreadsheet app. Excel apparently far outdoes it in features. I don't know about how well it handles conversions, but if it is anything like the word processing side of Appleworks, I don't think it will be pretty.
I think Apple realizes the niche that Appleworks fills. It is a nice, cheap office suite for students and some non-advanced consumers. I use Appleworks to type all my papers for college, and it fits that need very well. When I need something a little more powerful, I bust out OpenOffice.
I think Apple realizes that rather than possibly trying futilely to expand Appleworks beyond what it is, they can support different projects or create new ones to fill the needs of office suite users. Keynote looks like one hell of a Powerpoint killer from everything I have seen and heard. Also, I don't think it is coincidence at all that Apple released their version of X11 a day or two before OpenOffice released a new beta. Those releases combined with Safari makes it very clear that Apple is weening itself off its dependence on the beast from Redmond.
Re:Makes sense.. (Score:1)
yup [openoffice.org]
Re:Makes sense.. (Score:1)
Yes, but is Apple helping the effort? Has there been a recent influx of new developers? Has there een a recent focus on code separation that might help make an Aqua version easier to write?
Re:further proof (Score:2)
This is not an example of free markets-- if it were a free market, MS Would not have been able to become the abusive monopoly that it is.
government is a disease masquerading as its own cure.
Think about it-- if everyone could sue MS for forcing them pay for copies of Windows they didn't want (Even for macs that cant run it!) without MS having the protection of the class action limitation-- MS would be held far more accountable than they are now.
This problem is the result of corrupt government, and UNFREE markets. Not freemarkets.
Lets keep in mind... (Score:2, Informative)
All in all, it seems like a pretty weak case to be 'upset' -- although yes, I agree that Microsoft should 'pay the fine' even if citizens don't claim it for their own. Then again, IIRC, it was a settlement, rather than a fine imposed by a court.
Re:Lets keep in mind... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think those questions alone make Apples comlaints legitimate. MS will do everyhting in their power to make sure this settlement works out to their advantage, so I think it's important that the dissenting voices be as loud as possible.
As for me, I'm not prepared to accept this settlement as a good thing until I can read the fine print and determine if I can use these vouchers to help a certain ailing Linux distro. If I can't do that, then this settlement is nothing more than MS trying to further extend their monopoly.
RTFA (Score:2)
So continue with your regularly scheduled MS bashing, but do think about reading the article now, ok?
Apple, Microsoft, Rift? (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, it makes me nervous when there (supposedly) isn't a rift between them. That weird pretend alliance a few years ago, where Microsoft got a slot on the Apple desktop and Apple got a $100 million "investment" (Bill spend more than that on real estate taxes) was too strange for words.
Someone suggested to me a while ago that despite Apple's desperate need for continued Office for Mac support, Microsoft maybe needed them even more. If Apple were to die, hey presto! incontrovertible monopoly that, with a few missteps, could lead to Microsoft's splitting up in antitrust action. Now that Linux is becoming a more credible alternative, Microsoft might be tempted to abandon Macintosh and cause Apple's fall into oblivion even if it means losing a lucrative niche. Cutting into the education market is a lot like cutting Apple out of the business market.
The key thing is that people need to be weaned off of Office.
On its attempt to bulldoze into education, I'm glad Microsoft got tagged, though it immediately trying to learn loss into victory with VOUCHERS and discounts in a naked attempt to steer those same purchasers back to the MS fold. The cyncicism of it is astounding, and I had assumed the settlement offer was dead on arrival. Please tell me California is smarter than this.
Most of all, I'm glad to see Apple acting like a normal bitter competitor again, too. I wonder what Jobs, who we know already has a bit of a vicious streak, says about Microsoft in private? Hmm.
Re:Apple, Microsoft, Rift? (Score:5, Interesting)
In private? Hell! What he says in public makes for pretty good reading. Remember this gem?
Re:Apple, Microsoft, Rift? (Score:1, Insightful)
That's the problem. Microsoft puts out products that are "good enough". Apple puts out products that are "great". This means Apple will always be a niche player.
I'm not sure why this is a "big deal" to a lot of people, since every other (competitive) industry has plenty of niche players (think, stereos, cars, etc). I guess in the computer industry you have to strive for every desktop for interoperability reasons and "network effects".
Reminds me of college: I was in engineering, and I knew this guy who didn't give a shit about lab reports and stuff like that. He'd always say "just put down some bullshit and turn it in, you'll probably get an A". Well, that's what he did, and I always put effort into my reports as if someone was going to read every page. Well, we both would get A's, but I spent nights working on it, and he just cut and paste and filled the space.
Re:Apple, Microsoft, Rift? (Score:2)
You say "niche player." I say "most influential computer company in history, and one of the most influential companies in any industry."
Re:Apple, Microsoft, Rift? (Score:1)
Jump or be pushed? (Score:2)
An alternative is that Apple just don't need MS Office anymore. Open Office et al. have shown that MS do not have any particular edge in office suites anymore, and that Apple should be able to integrate with Windows users without installing MS Office.
Xix.
Re:Apple, Microsoft, Rift? (Score:2)
That whole settlement and investment was a cover-- MS invested $100M publically, but has been paying apple around a $1B a year since then to cover th patents the infringed on and all the source code to quicktime that some how appeared inside of MS's media player.
MS got caught stealing apples technology so much they just settled for MS paying Apple hundreds of millions (if not multiple billions) each year and cross licensing the technology.
At least, that's what some foresnic accountants told me after the deal happened-- apple's balance sheet suddenly looked a lot better without that big an increase in sales.
And $100M is one of those figures that your average idiot thinks is a lot of money
Too little, too late? (Score:2, Troll)
There doesn't seem to be much they actually can do, unless they drastically change their business model/strategy. But in what way? Buying out MandrakeSoft may open some interesting options for them. Just a thought...
Re:Too little, too late? (Score:2)
Oh, great idea!
1) Buy a bankrupt Linux distro maker
2) Pay off distro maker's debts
3) Proclaim how cool they are now that they own a Linux distro
4) ???
5) Profit!
You think schools are going to pay a bunch of money to run Mandrake on their PCs? Why would they pay Apple, if they aren't paying Mandrake now?
You think schools are going to buy Macs so they can run Linux instead of OSX? Why would they run Linux, if it has no major advantages over OSX? If they wanted to run Linux on Macs, they've been able to do that for a long time. However, AFAIK there are almost no closed-source applications available for PPC Linux, and most open-source applications run on OSX, so switching to Linux would really be a step backwards in terms of what a school can do with the machine.
You think Apple's going to push a linux distro that can be downloaded for free and run on non-Apple hardware, instead of pushing their own hardware and software that they actually make money on?
You think Apple's going to hire developers from Mandrake to improve OSX? I don't think so. When Apple needs developers, Apple hires deveoplers, they don't just buy companies, with the exception of NeXT. They've hired people from FreeBSD and Mozilla, and probably other projects.
Linux isn't as cool as you think it is.
Re:Too little, too late? (Score:2)
related I, Cringely (Score:1)
I, Cringely [pbs.org]
They are (Score:1)
Although I use Linux (because of cheap hardware and even cheaper software) I'd buy Apple over MS any day of the week and twice on Sundays. The only thing that Apple doesn't have is a low end offering. But I guess that can be taken care of with the used mac market, which is huge.
BGO (Score:1)