Microsoft unveils Mac OS X plans

One of the secret issues surrounding Apple's move to Mac OS X, which is based on the NextStep/OpenStep technology Apple received when it bought Steve Jobs' Next Computer is the legacy of disinterest Microsoft has shown for the platform. In fact, when Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was asked whether his company would ever develop software for the Next Oses, his reply was basically unprintable. What a difference a few years make.

On Wednesday, Microsoft Corporation announced that it would be supporting Mac OS X with a variety of applications, including Microsoft Office 9, Internet Explorer 5.0 and 5.5, and Outlook Express.

"We will release Mac OS X-native versions of IE and OE the day Mac OS X becomes available to customers," says Dick Craddock, product unit manager in Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit.

The relationship between Microsoft and Apple has always been interesting, but even Apple CEO Steve Jobs agrees that the Redmond giant's Macintosh team is developing great Mac software. Hopefully this relationship will continue to grow in the future