About This Particular Macintosh 6.04 - eDisk

especially when combined with Player 2 . As for Nisus Writer, it has a macro language of itsown (check), but few people use it (no check).I can see two alternative paths to market domination.• Nisus could re-channel its resources into developing Nisus Office (the powerful officesuite). The company would then have its own community of applications sharing a common,proprietary language. Users would flock to it.• Nisus could threaten Apple to knife the baby 3 , i.e. AppleScript, and replace it with theNisus macro language. If Apple refused to comply, Nisus would cancel development of itsQUED/M text editor and double the frequency of its company newsletter. Without textfile compatibility, the Macintosh would become useless in Apple’s core markets. Applewould have to give in.No matter what, Nisus should not make its word processor fully AppleScriptable. Thatwould be seen as a sign of weakness and would escalate its decline into irrelevancy.Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office 98 is a fantastic achievement in software engineering. Among Macintoshoffice suites with animated help assistants, it has by far the lowest number of bugs. Office isso easy to use that its users have no need for a manual. It’s even easier to use on the Mac thanon the PC. Although this is mostly attributable to Microsoft’s strong adoption 4 of theMacintosh Human Interface Guidelines 5 , there is something else to consider.Unlike Office for Windows, Microsoft Office Macintosh Edition does not include the databaseapplication, Access; the multimedia encyclopædia, Encarta; or the Web developmenttool, FrontPage. Such features would only confuse Mac users, who care little for relationaldatabases, multimedia, and the World Wide Web. Kudos to Microsoft for providing this“Simple Office” safety feature. Even the most knowledgeable Mac users are unable to locatethe hidden Access, Encarta, and FrontPage components on the Office 98 CD—just as adultsoften have trouble unscrewing child-proof caps.2. http://www.atpm.com/6.03/player.shtml3. http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_findings.htm4. http://www.atpm.com/4.06/page8.shtml5. http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGuidelines/HIGuidelines-2.htmlATPM 6.04 ← 19 →Columns: What I Really Think