Israel slams Microsoft over IE, Office: mac snubs

[Tiassa]

Back in June, Michael Orlowski of The Register published an article concerning Microsoft's refusal to support Hebrew on Macintosh.

Even though it wouldn't cost Microsoft a cent, says Dov Cohen, a law student who formed the National Academic Macintosh Administrators group to lobby for Hebrew support in Microsoft products.

Cohen says that the CEO of Apple's Israeli representative Yeda offered to underwrite the localization work, pay 1million shekels, and assure a pre-order of 2,000 copies from Apple France - but Microsoft Israel declined. (Yeda and Apple France didn't return our request for confirmation).

"What's the problem?" asks Cohen. "Microsoft Israel tried giving numerous excuses, such as it being unprofitable, or that they lack the knowledge. But that can't be it, since it's not going to cost them a nickle, and Yeda will hire Macintosh Developers for them that'll do the job - so what's the catch ?"

"Can anyone explain why IE:mac and Outlook Express:mac support Zulu and Portugeuse but not Russian or Hebrew?"

Or incredibly, Arabic and Korean too.

The article notes something that doesn't get discussed in the US very much, and that is the ongoing struggle of Microsoft to dominate the Apple platform as well:

In the US Antitrust case, the appeals case upheld the finding that Microsoft was found guilty of abusing its monopoly power by tying further development of Office for the Macintosh to Apple's adoption of Internet Explorer as the default Mac browser.

Orlowski reports this week that the Israeli government has lost its temper, suspending through 2004, and the Ministry of Commerce is looking into OpenOffice as an alternative.

Several groups have lobbied for Microsoft to be subjected to Israel's strict antitrust legislation. But the issue was forced by the Online Freedom Foundation lobby group, whose head Oded Lavi has fought the legal battle that brings to light a hitherto unpublished agreement between Microsoft and Israel's former Antitrust Authority director David Tadmor, signed in 1999.

The agreement specified that any restrictions imposed as a consequence of the US Department of Justice's antitrust action against Microsoft would be applied in Israel. They weren't enforced, until now. A statement issued by the State Prosecutor added that Tadmor had signed the 1999 agreement in haste, failing to consider all the options. After weathering complaints that he had procrastinated Strum was left with no option but to enforce Israel's antitrust provisions.

The decision will almost certainly focus Microsoft's attentions on supporting Urdu, Hebrew and Arabic on non-Windows platforms.

This is the kind of story that just doesn't get enough play in the US. It's the essential nuts and bolts of what is wrong with Microsoft as an entity in relation to the people it wishes to sell to.

We've heard it all before:

- Microsoft won't develop Office: mac without a guaranteed pre-order of 500,000 copies.
- Microsoft won't release Office: mac unless IE is the default browser.
- Microsoft won't update Office: mac unless IE is the default browser.
- Microsoft won't develop for the Mac platform unless IE is the default browser and X number of Office: mac copies are sold.

And while certain issues do arise concerning cost and profit, Microsoft pretends that Apple, an expensive computer with a solid operating system is a marketshare threat compared to MS software on cheap equipment? Quite obviously, Microsoft is inventing an issue. The Linux threat is greater.

And yet Microsoft needs Apple. Steve Jobs, strangely, is Gates salvation against monopoly charges; the existence of Apple Computer ensures that MS can never go down for being a full-blown monopoly. So Gates strings Apple users along, treating them like they're subhuman. It's why we all cheered when the kid jacked Office: mac via his iPod. No, it's not ethical, but in Gatesworld ethics are an inconvenience, and if Microsoft doesn't want to find itself shut out by people who do have uses for ethical propriety, it had better get its act straight.

And just so all the Windows users understand this: Internet Explorer sucks on Macs. Did you know that IE cannot properly display Sciforums on a Mac? I remember downloading OmniWeb one day, back before we had Safari, and when I brought up Sciforums, I was amazed at one or two details that had changed.

So raise a toast to Bill Gates: who else has the balls to hold Israel hostage that isn't a terrorist? And with a bad product, at that?

 

[Mystech]

Oh rababa, who cares if Microsoft doesn't cater to every little whim of a tiny percentage of it's users? I've got to admit that it's pretty ballsy to sell software that doesn't support Hebrew in Israel, but if Microsoft doesn't think they are gonna' make money off of it, who's to tell 'em different? The problem here is mostly with the software starved nature of Mac users. It's pathetic how they need to wait around for a reputable software company like Microsoft to throw them a bone, and then complain when it ends up sucking. . . but then still use it anyway! It's almost the same problem as with Linux, fairly good on it's own but good software packages from companies that know what the hell they are doing aren't in the same abundance as they are with windows platforms. The fact that Microsoft isn't developing very good software for macs, or that they won't support Hebrew leaves some pretty big chink's in it's monopoly's armor, people should quit complaining and band together to make a fortune filling in the gaps that MS is leaving.

 

[jps]

I don't use a single microsoft product on my mac...I really dont' know what the fuss is. We dont' need that inferior software..

 

[Mystech]

Originally posted by jps
I don't use a single microsoft product on my mac...I really dont' know what the fuss is. We dont' need that inferior software..

Who are you kidding? You need every software package you can get, it's like Christmas every time the mac version of a reputable piece of software is released.

 

[Tiassa]

True 'nuff, Mystech

Sadly, the awful state of AppleWorks is directly tied to Office: mac. O:m is a good product, better in fact than Office for Windows. But as the recent spat with Adobe shows, Apple is strongly advised by software makers against developing their own software. AppleWorks is shite specifically so it's no competition for O:m. And it would do Microsoft well to consider adding Hebrew; Apple has broad support for languages; O:m just isn't their product so they don't have any say.

 

[jps]

I admit that appleworks sucks, and it would be nice to have a better program, thats pretty much the only thing, and Appleworks does work, its just annoying.

 

[Mystech]

Originally posted by jps
I admit that appleworks sucks, and it would be nice to have a better program, thats pretty much the only thing, and Appleworks does work, its just annoying.

Well MS office also has that paperclip thing, and that's pretty damned annoying too, hehe. Always popin' up at the most inopportune moments.