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MS buying Apple stock involved a pretty complicated deal that also involved settling a number of court disputes between the two companies, Apple agreeing to shi

by nl 4y ago

MS buying Apple stock involved a pretty complicated deal that also involved settling a number of court disputes between the two companies, Apple agreeing to ship Internet Explorer for Mac (rather than Netscape) and MS agreeing to ship Office for at least 5 more years. At the time and subsequently it was absolutely seen as a lifeline. For example: > Providing the biggest sign of hope yet for ailing Apple Computer, Microsoft today announced it was forging a new era of cooperation with its longtime rival that includes an investment of $150 million. [snip] News of the alliance sent Apple's stock up $7 a share, or 35 percent https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19970806&slug=2553374 https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19970806&slug...

scarface74 4y ago
And “their new alliance” was to keep shipping Office for the Mac like they had done for the past decade…
- nl 4y ago
  Yes and/but there was real concern then that they'd stop supporting it which would have killed Mac use in corporate environments where specific version of office compatibility was a huge issue (As anyone who remembers the Office 2.0 vs Office 6 update on Windows will remember).
  - nl 4y ago
    Unclear why people are disagreeing with this. It's outlined in the DoJ "finding of fact": > Recognizing the importance of Mac Office to Apple's survival, Microsoft threatened to cancel the product unless Apple compromised on a number of outstanding issues between the companies. One of these issues was the extent to which Apple distributed and promoted Internet Explorer, as opposed to Navigator, with the Mac OS. > At the end of June 1997, the Microsoft executive in charge of Mac Office, Ben Waldman, sent a message to Gates and Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer, Greg Maffei. The message reflected Waldman's understanding that Microsoft was threatening to cancel Mac Office: > The pace of our discussions with Apple as well as their recent unsatisfactory response have certainly frustrated a lot of people at Microsoft. The threat to cancel Mac Office 97 is certainly the strongest bargaining point we have, as doing so will do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately. I also believe that Apple is taking this threat pretty seriously [snip] > Gates then reported that he had already called Apple's CEO (who at the time was Gil Amelio) to ask "how we should announce the cancellation of Mac Office . . . ." from https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-v-microsoft-courts-findings-fact#vc https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-v-microsoft-courts-findings-f... paragraph 345 onwards. Jobs' deal with MS fixed this problem.
  - swores 4y ago
    > As anyone who remembers the Office 2.0 vs Office 6 update on Windows will remember I think you're misremembering or mistyping the numbers, unless Wikipedia is wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Office https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Office
    - nl 4y ago
      Ah it was Word 2.0 vs Word 6.0 (which was roughly Office 3.0 vs Office 4.0) Word 2.0 shipped on a lot of Windows NT computers with Office 3.0 and these were the days when there weren't forced updates and you had to pay so it hung around for ages.
      - swores 4y ago
        Makes sense!

by nl 4y ago

scarface74 4y ago

And “their new alliance” was to keep shipping Office for the Mac like they had done for the past decade…

nl 4y ago
Yes and/but there was real concern then that they'd stop supporting it which would have killed Mac use in corporate environments where specific version of office compatibility was a huge issue (As anyone who remembers the Office 2.0 vs Office 6 update on Windows will remember).
- nl 4y ago
  Unclear why people are disagreeing with this. It's outlined in the DoJ "finding of fact": > Recognizing the importance of Mac Office to Apple's survival, Microsoft threatened to cancel the product unless Apple compromised on a number of outstanding issues between the companies. One of these issues was the extent to which Apple distributed and promoted Internet Explorer, as opposed to Navigator, with the Mac OS. > At the end of June 1997, the Microsoft executive in charge of Mac Office, Ben Waldman, sent a message to Gates and Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer, Greg Maffei. The message reflected Waldman's understanding that Microsoft was threatening to cancel Mac Office: > The pace of our discussions with Apple as well as their recent unsatisfactory response have certainly frustrated a lot of people at Microsoft. The threat to cancel Mac Office 97 is certainly the strongest bargaining point we have, as doing so will do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately. I also believe that Apple is taking this threat pretty seriously [snip] > Gates then reported that he had already called Apple's CEO (who at the time was Gil Amelio) to ask "how we should announce the cancellation of Mac Office . . . ." from https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-v-microsoft-courts-findings-fact#vc https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-v-microsoft-courts-findings-f... paragraph 345 onwards. Jobs' deal with MS fixed this problem.
- swores 4y ago
  > As anyone who remembers the Office 2.0 vs Office 6 update on Windows will remember I think you're misremembering or mistyping the numbers, unless Wikipedia is wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Office https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Office
  - nl 4y ago
    Ah it was Word 2.0 vs Word 6.0 (which was roughly Office 3.0 vs Office 4.0) Word 2.0 shipped on a lot of Windows NT computers with Office 3.0 and these were the days when there weren't forced updates and you had to pay so it hung around for ages.
    - swores 4y ago
      Makes sense!