Macurmudgeon 2.0

From the Dept. of Actually, No, It Doesn't Mean That at All

Today's entry at the Infoworld.com "Enterprise Mac" weblog raises fears about the end of Microsoft Office for the Mac:

Roz Ho, the head of Microsoft Mac Business Unit, made her customary appearance at MacWorld Expo to announce that Microsoft and Apple and reached an agreement to support Office for the Mac for a least five years.

I know Microsoft. When the company "commits to support the product for a minimum of five years" means that the product will no longer be supported five years after this announcement. Existing users can live with that; their software is stable. But eventually the code will go into maintenance mode, and with the Mac BU, products like Virtual PC, Internet Explorer and Remote Desktop Connector.

Very scary, indeed. Except that Microsoft made the exact same pledge in 1997, and MS Office for Mac has been going strong for the past nine years.

The evidence, then, for MS dumping Mac Office five years from now is:

1. The Infoworld blogger "knows Microsoft";
   
2. Nothing;
   
3. Nothing; and
   
4. Nothing.
   

So, an IT industry writer spreads FUD about the industry standard office suite being available on the Mac, and that writer pens columns specifically about the enterprise (i.e. the business world). Color me shocked.

Back to your regularly scheduled Web page.