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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Travis who wrote (18451)	9/24/1998 2:59:00 PM
From: Zen Dollar Round	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

True. But I would rather have a $350 mil + Friendlier relations than $900 million and the same relationship with MS. I think aapl did will too - releasing MS Office 98 on the mac was a major part of that agreement. At its release it did wonders for confidence in apple-mostly from "non-believers." You'll get no argument from me on that one! The biggest value in the Microsoft investment was for PR. The positive news alone that deal generated was worth it, and having cozier relations with Bill & Co. reaps huge benefits to Apple, both in the public's eye and in technological benefits. MS Office 98 is the perfect example of this, and although it was already well into development when the deal was brokered, most businesses live and die by MS Office. So, a clean, robust, MACINTOSH version of Office was just what Apple needed. I still wonder if the poor job Microsoft did with Office 4.2 wasn't intentional, to damage Apple's place in the market with their (then new) Power Mac. Some may call that paranoid, but it's exactly the kind of maneuvering Mr. Gates is known for. All water under the bridge now... I wasn't thrilled by the cross-licensing of patents, but that's because Apple holds so many more than Microsoft. Apple is the innovator, Microsoft the imitator, but that's why the secret payment exists in the first place. :)