Microsoft formed the Mac Business Unit as a separate team within the company in 1997, the same year Microsoft and Apple announced an agreement that, among other things, guaranteed that Microsoft would continue to ship Office for Mac on a regular schedule. That deal has since expired, adding to Mac users' concerns about Microsoft's commitment to the platform.
Those concerns were fueled when Microsoft last year said it would no longer make major updates to its Internet Explorer Web browser for the Mac. Microsoft said that Apple, with its access to the technical details of the Mac operating system, was in a better position to serve Mac users with its Safari browser. ...
with about 160 employees split between Redmond and Mountain View, Calif. -- is relatively small in the context of Microsoft's 55,000 employees. ...
Microsoft Office has played an important role in making the Mac a viable product for office users and for freelancers who work for business clients, said Amy Wohl, who worked as a consultant to Apple in the Mac's early days. If Microsoft stopped making Office for Mac, it would be "much harder" for Apple to maintain that part of the market, Wohl said.
Apple declined to comment for this story, citing a policy against discussing relationships with partners. But an Apple spokesman pointed to a statement from the MacWorld Expo in which Phil Schiller, its senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, called Office 2004 for Mac "the best version of Office yet, on any platform." Schiller said Apple is happy to see Microsoft's commitment to making Mac software.
Microsoft's Mac Business Unit is the largest development house outside Apple dedicated to Mac products. Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus is a short drive from Microsoft's Mountain View campus, and people from the companies talk regularly. People in the Mac Business Unit have a good working relationship with Apple, McDonough said. ...
On the Microsoft campus, the Mac BU works closely with the Windows Office team to make sure the Office experience is consistent for Mac and PC users. They also work together on cross-platform compatibility -- ensuring that files made in Office for Mac translate properly to Windows Office, and vice versa.
Although the Windows and Mac Office teams work independently, with different release schedules, Office for Mac developers track the development of new features for Windows Office and include them in Mac Office when appropriate ...
The unique qualities of the Mac operating system also lead to differentiation. For example, Office for Mac uses Apple's Quartz graphics system, part of OS X, to give charts a degree of transparency that lets users see open windows behind them.
