Although Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at least pretend in public to have a friendly relationship of several decades, you know that Apple and Microsoft have been fierce competitors for years. Of course, in the business world, you may have to make a deal with the devil to survive.

So, indeed, Apple has also worked hand-in-glove with Microsoft on some projects. It’s also noteworthy to recall that Microsoft Excel and Word actually debuted on the Mac platform a long, long time ago, before they went to Windows. Sometimes, when you look at these programs, you can easily believe it was really the other way around.

These days, Apple needs Microsoft Office as much as they ever did. Despite its girth and glitches, the world’s number one office suite is a requirement for companies to take Macs seriously. They need files to be all or mostly compatible with the Windows counterparts, and it also gives Apple credibility as a maker of business computers.

Certainly a major enterprise initiative seems to be behind Apple’s decision to license ActiveSync from Microsoft for the iPhone, and provide full support for Exchange servers beginning with the iPhone 2.0 update and Snow Leopard.

Indeed, when you watch the Mac versus PC spots, you might never have believed it possible.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, July 6th, 2008 at 6:30 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: Apple, bob levitus, business, Chip Maker, Dr Mac, Email, environment, Europe, Exchange, Iphone, Late August, Leopard, Mac, Mac Business, Macs, Macworld, Mail, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, MobileMe, Moniker, Mybb, Night Owl, Rob Griffiths, Shipping Damage, snow leopard, Windows.