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MacEdition Pro News: 12 June

Breaking up is hard to do

Unsurprisingly, given his increasing irritation toward the Redmond software giant, Judge Jackson ruled Wednesday that Microsoft should assume an amoeba-like state and divide. In a revealing interview with ZDNet News, we learn that the good Judge believes (shockingly enough) that Microsoft has been known to not be truthful at times. It was this lack of truthfulness on Microsoft’s part, throughout the trial, that led Jackson to the conclusion that conduct remedies wouldn’t work, and that a breakup was the only solution to the monopoly problems.

We also learn that, had Microsoft shelved its notorious “fight for supreme victory at all costs” approach and accepted a conduct remedy in a settlement with the Justice Department, Jackson would have accepted it. What remains unclear in the wake of the verdict is just what impact it will have on Microsoft’s day-to-day operations, including those of the fabled Macintosh Business Unit (MBU), which delivers such Macintosh essentials as Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, and Office 98.

From dysfunction to love-in

Do you have news releases or tidbits of interest to the Macintosh professional? Send them to pronewsnotes@macedition.com.

Moving from one dysfunctional relationship (Microsoft and the federal government) to another, we find that once-antagonistic computer makers Sun Microsystems and our very own Apple Computer have announced an informal alliance. The San Francisco Chronicle tells us of a love-in between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Sun CEO Scott McNealy, in which Jobs pledged best-of-breed Java development environments in the upcoming Mac OS X, to which McNealy responded with some allegedly good-natured ribbing of Apple’s refusal to follow Sun’s Java trail in years past.

This event represents a marked change from just a few years ago, when McNealy stated that the release of the iMac was as important to him as “the latest Amdahl mainframe.”

Another day, another dead upgrade vendor

Finally, we note with sadness the passing of Mac processor upgrade vendor MacCPU, whose outspoken founder Bob Moriarty could always be counted on to deliver vintage screeds condemning Apple’s latest actions to stymie Macintosh processor upgrade options. Moriarty reports that MacCPU voluntarily closed due to plunging sales, caused by Apple’s dramatic efforts to prevent upgrades to the latest G3 and G4 desktops.

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