Microsoft has a message for all those who still see the software giant as a rival to Apple Computer: Get over it.
Clashes between Microsoft's Bill Gates and Apple's Steve Jobs as they vied for control of the personal computer industry are the stuff of legend.
Recently the combative stances have relaxed into more amicable postures.
Microsoft's support for Apple is embodied in its Macintosh Business Unit, a team of 185 Mac users who crank out software that many say is better than the stuff made for Windows.
"Our relationship with Apple has never been better," Kevin Browne, general manager of the "Mac B," said in a recent interview at Microsoft headquarters.
That relationship centres on Office, Microsoft's popular software package that includes the Word word processor, Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint presentation software.
In the mid-1990s, the relationship was on the rocks. Mac users were infuriated with crash-prone Office and the growing gap between releases for Windows and the Macintosh.
Apple itself started struggling, and by 1997, Microsoft pondered dropping support for the Mac, a move that analysts say would have killed the pioneering computer maker.
Instead, in a stroke that stunned Apple's fiercely loyal user base, Microsoft announced at a Mac convention in 1997 that it was investing US$150 million in its beleaguered rival. And rather than have the same programmers write software for Windows and the Mac, a separate development team was split off in 1997 and given their own budget and planning freedom.
Recovering soul
"Our business was down, our customer satisfaction was way down," Browne said. "Microsoft took a step back and said, 'What are we going to do with the Mac?'. Obviously the easy thing to do would be to say we're not going to do this any more."
"But it's a pretty good business. Compared to Windows it doesn't look big, but as an independent company it looks alright. We sort of spun it off internally and said there should be this group of people to cater to this Mac user," Browne said.
The result, as measured by the latest product, Office 2001, has been a resounding success. Released last October after 30 months of development, the software has sold half a million copies. Everything from pull-down menus to product packaging conforms to the hip Mac aesthetic. A new, Mac-only application was included. Analysts praised the product as better than the Windows version.
"We probably have the ability to take more risks than they do. We are opinionated, design-oriented people," said Michael Connolly, a group program manager in the unit.
The team also makes Mac versions of the Internet Explorer Web browser and the Outlook Express email client. Microsoft claims both are the most popular applications of their type among Mac users.
"In the last four years we've recovered our soul to a large extent. It's understanding that Mac users are different from Windows users," Browne said.
