Not the one I was hoping for

by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/25/2004 3:36 AM EST
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  • Ed - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link

    As was said, the 150,000,000 dollars were in stock, not in a 'cash infusion'. $150,000,000, even in Apple's dark period, was not enough to have done much of anything. It was a symbolic gesture that has been taken way out of context by the media and PC users, nothing more. More over; the stock was non-voting stock, so Microsoft had ZERO say-so in Apple's actions. And yes, Apple bougth back the stock some years ago.
  • Tim - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link

    That famous 1997 détente between Microsoft and Apple was more about optics than anything else. The $150 million "injection" -- or more accurately share purchase -- was a pittance in comparison with the billions Apple held in cash at the time. Nevertheless it was widely reported and may even have assisted in preventing the defection of developers after Apple's worst-ever year (1996). As ViRGE said, MS later sold those shares at a considerable profit.

    The agreement to produce future versions of Office for the Mac expired after the intro of Office X. Since then Office 2004 (code name Mac Office 11) has been introduced and the MacBU is known to be working on Mac Office 12. Clearly MS has a business case (i.e. profit motive) in continuing to develop for Mac.

    Let me add my congratulations on your graduation Anand. And have fun in Taiwan!
  • ViRGE - Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - link

    Just an FYI Joe, but Microsoft sold their shares in Apple nearly a year ago.
  • Joe - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    I got a chukle out of your comment about MS Office. You are begnnning to sound like a Machead. One little tidbit of historical financial information for you. Back in 1997 Microsoft and Apple settled a lawsuit (Apple claim was that Microsoft copies the Windows concept). Part of the settlement included a cash injection by Microsoft into Apple and Microsoft owns about 7 to 8% of Apple stock today. Microsoft also agreed to make Mac version of Office for a number of years going forward. Apple did not have a big hammer because they did not have patents on features of the operating system. Apple has recently been more aggressive in filing patents on OSX and a recent application for a patent on parts of the operating system window that becomes more invisible over time without use and other features is generating some discussion because guess what? It is rumored that Longhorn may have some of these features. But for the most part I think both companies are trying to be friendly competitors these days.
  • Eug - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    I haven't tried it yet, but people are happy with Microsoft Office 2004. Here are some comments about Office 2004 (in an Ars thread) from one of the MacBU guys.

    http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&am...

    It's interesting because not only does he talk about features changes and bug fixes, but he also talks about some of the under-the-hood changes and potential future directions.
  • Anonymous - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    Last cooling article was Nov 21 2002.

    hint, hint.

    Congrats on graduating and don't you have a wedding to plan for now? Good luck, I just had mine last September.....you're gonna love it :)

    Have fun flying, too.
  • me - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    More thoughts on the education system :-)

    Become a champion of Small Form Factor and wireless...push it...push it...push it. No more wires. I don't want to see my computer anyomore.

    More thoughts on the future and 2 cpu's per core. if this is really where we are going please push for more multithreaded apps!

    Use your powers for good :-)
  • me - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    More thoughts on the education system :-)

    Become a champion of Small Form Factor and wireless...push it...push it...push it. No more wires. I don't want to see my computer anyomore.

    More thoughts on the future and 2 cpu's per core. if this is really where we are going please push for more multithreaded apps!

    Use your powers for good :-)
  • GTaudiophile - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    Two good ideas I've seen posted in the GH thread so far:

    1) More emphasis on wireless and mobile platforms.

    2) To celebrate Anand's marriage to Vinney (and maybe the 10th Anniversary of this site?), we need to have ANAND FEST. Picture it: a few thousand loyal anandtechers in Raleigh, NC fragging each other for an entire weekend. We'd have prizes for the most frags for those who came the farthest distance, etc. Would be fun!
  • Patrick - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    I'm just glad to see that the Mac section is still in the works. I truly look forward to it. Congrats on the diploma.

    BTW, I'd love to see the 2nd gen. G5 put through its paces after WWDC.
  • GTaudiophile - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    Anand: Again, congratulations to both you AND Vinney. I include her as I am sure she'll be seeing more of you now. Now that the diploma is in hand, the wedding plans can really get rolling! Any ideas for a honeymoon location yet?

    Also, can you please dig through your receipts and find out where you ate that ravioli in Dresden? I depart for a business trip to Germany on July 10. (Feel free to e-mail the location.)

    As for input on where AT goes from here:

    1) A thorough soundcard comparison would be nice.
    2) A down-and-dirty IQ comparison between the ATI Radeon X800 series vs. nVidia GeForce 6800 series would be awesome, especially when PS3.0 becomes more relevant. Is it worth the hype?
    3) Hardware roundups are always great, especially with motherboards. The more compared the merrier.
    4) More reviews of peripherals: monitors, power supplies, HSFs, etc.

    That is why AT is here: to provide unbiased and thorough reviews to facilitate the buying public's desire to add value to their computer hardware purchases.
  • cu - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    I would like to see a review of the x800 and 6800 showing how they scale with different cpus like firingsquad did.
  • Vidar - Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - link

    I would love to see some more server stuff. Especially web and database benchmarks.

    Also, I think you talked about doing an article about the recent addition of the 4-way Opteron server to your server farm. Are you still planning to do it?

    Vidar

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