Brian Nakamoto's Macworld Expo Report--Microsoft Keynote [Wednesday]

I had a hard time believing that I was at a Microsoft keynote today[Wednesday]. Kevin Browne, General Manager of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit was committed to demonstrating that MS is making a huge investment in the Mac. At the end, I believe him not only because of what was presented but because I think that MS realizes that controlling the way we share information is more important than controlling the platform we share it on. Besides, they already control 95% of that. ;)

The first half of the keynote was used to demonstrate Office 2001 and its Mac specific features. However, like a good Steve Jobs keynote, the second half got interesting....

Kevin announced partnerships between MS and MYOB, Epson and Macworld. MYOB product manager demonstrated how MYOB exchanges data well with Office. Epson announced the new Stylus Color 8^3 (eight cube) that is made to work specifically well with Office and a G4 Cube. Finally, MS and Macworld will be working closely to bring content on how to best use MS Mac software in both print and online.

Kevin spent a brief amount of time on MS' hardware (e.g. optical mice, trackballs and keyboards) that all have native Mac software by the creator of USB Overdrive. He even hinted that if enough Mac users buy the MS keyboards, there's a chance MS will make Mac specific keyboards with the Command and other keys that Mac users expect to find.

The first of two big MS announcements today was the release of the (beta) Outlook 2001 Mac client that is feature and format compatible with its Windows counterpart. This is huge for Mac users on a corporate LAN where Exchange is used. The beta can be downloaded from MacTopia today and the final release is expected this Summer. My two questions are can Outlook POP and does it HotSync?

The second huge announcement is that MS Mac BU loves OS X and hopes to deliver the carbonized version of Office this fall! There was even a demo of carbonized Word and Entourage on OS X that was done in only 2.5 months. Mac users that buy 2001 today get to upgrade to the OS X version (for a limited time) for 50% off (approx. $149.00). Kevin mentioned that the OS X Office demo is the only general audience demo until perhaps Macworld NY.

BTW, an Office 2001 Service Release 1 should be out around this March to make sure that its fully compatible with OS X Classic environment, OS 9.1 and improve existing features.