Microsoft's Frank Shaw Slams Apple's Free iWork Software

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

VP of communications sounds off about Apple's decision to make iWork free and insists it's not a big (or very good) deal.

At Tuesday's Apple event, CEO Tim Cook announced that the newest iteration of OS X, Mavericks, would be free. Not only that, but the new versions of iLife and iWork would be free as well. There was a couple of little snipes about competitors charging big bucks for OS upgrades and Apple's new software pricing turning the industry on its ear. At one point, a copy of Windows 8 Pro and its $199 price tag flashed up on screen and Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering, declared: "The days of spending hundreds of dollars to get the most out of your computer are gone." Now, you didn't expect Microsoft to just let that go, did you?

Frank Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Communications at Microsoft, published a blog post this week titled 'Apples and Oranges.' In it, he expresses the need to 'clear some things up' regarding Apple's event. The short version of his post is that the Surface and Surface 2 both include Office and both cost less than the iPad 2 and iPad Air. This he says, means Apple's decision to "build the price of their less popular and less powerful iWork into their tablets not a very big (or very good) deal." Ouch. He goes on to wax lyrical about the Surface and its ability to cover both elements of the user's life, seamlessly blending work and play in one device.

Shaw later adds that the Surface and Surface 2 offer more storage than the iPad 2 and iPad Air respectively and come with full versions of Office 2013 as opposed to 'non-standard, non-cross-platform, imitation apps that can't share docs with the rest of the world.' What's more, the surface allows you to open multiple windows, and comes with additional support for USB, SD cards, and that all important kickstand. Bottom line: Shaw believes Apple's decision to make iWork free is an attempt to catch up to Microsoft and the Surface's productivity prowess than anything else, and no one does productivity better than Microsoft.

While Shaw does have a point in saying Office is the 'gold standard' for productivity (his words, not ours), there's no better price than free if you're looking to boost your userbase. It's also not exactly fair to paint the iPad as a machine that is incapable of both work and play, especially since more and more people are using their iPads for work on the go. The fact is, the tablet industry is still new, particularly in the context of mobile productivity, which means its also ripe for some fresh competition.

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Jane McEntegart
35 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dameon51
    He might be right, but that's not going to prevent people from drinking Apples kool-aid.
    Reply
  • smokeybravo
    I have a MacBook Air and it is better than any other Microsoft based system I have ever used. Furthermore, OS X is leaps and bounds better than Windows, in my opinion. Now, let's see how many down votes the ignorant Microsoft drones will give me.
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    Edit: Tsk tsk, changed your post Smokey ;)

    Smokey, while there are *tons* of Microsoft users, I don't see all that many people who actually have the level of fanaticism that Apple fans have. Most people use MS because it's there and it's the standard and they don't know any better whereas a *lot* of Apple users use their products like they are a defining part of their lives that constitute a significant part of their personal identity. You never see someone talking about an MS product as a fashion accessory like a purse or the cool thing they brag to their friends about in school... Apple? All the bloody time.

    Also, as for the "cannot think for themselves at all." Us tech people are kinda snobby about this sort of thing but we don't realize that there are people in other venues that look at us the exact same way. I know foodies who laugh at us regular folks as nincompoops for buying crappy olive oil and thinking it's good, for eating inferior quality burgers at this or that place, for buying this or that cut of meat and thinking it's quality. I know car people who laugh their heads off as we get bent over by mechanics to do simple fixes on their vehicles. I work with construction guys who shake their heads and call regular people idiots when they need to pay someone $30 an hour to put up a sheet of dry wall, slap on a layer of mud and paint it.

    You probably fit into one of those categories, and many, many more. So, do you feel like a complete incompetent idiot - a "drone" if you will - because you don't care to learn enough about these areas to make really informed decisions? Or like everyone else, do you simply pursue what you like and what you have to and learn about those things, and ignore the rest, even if it means you aren't *always* making the optimal choice?
    Reply
  • rishiswaz
    My main gripe with apple is, what about the users that had purchased the iWork apps for the iPad? I bought Pages and Keynote for the iPad when those apps first came out on the iPad 1, but now my reward for being an early adopter is not only do I not get OS updates I am out 30 dollars on apps that are now free. I used to love Apple mobile products (phones and tablets) but I eventually understood that they honestly don't care about customers using older products and would rather milk you 300+ dollars for a new device rather than fix your old one. Microsoft's legacy support is very good, even though it is going away in 2014 there is still support for Windows XP as of now. Windows XP support: 12 years (2001- 2014), iPad 1 support: 2 years (2010-2012)
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    ...and us LibreOffice and Google Docs users just sit back and wonder what all the fuss is about.
    Reply
  • smokeybravo
    11787514 said:
    Edit: Tsk tsk, changed your post Smokey ;)

    Smokey, while there are *tons* of Microsoft users, I don't see all that many people who actually have the level of fanaticism that Apple fans have. Most people use MS because it's there and it's the standard and they don't know any better whereas a *lot* of Apple users use their products like they are a defining part of their lives that constitute a significant part of their personal identity. You never see someone talking about an MS product as a fashion accessory like a purse or the cool thing they brag to their friends about in school... Apple? All the bloody time.

    Also, as for the "cannot think for themselves at all." Us tech people are kinda snobby about this sort of thing but we don't realize that there are people in other venues that look at us the exact same way. I know foodies who laugh at us regular folks as nincompoops for buying crappy olive oil and thinking it's good, for eating inferior quality burgers at this or that place, for buying this or that cut of meat and thinking it's quality. I know car people who laugh their heads off as we get bent over by mechanics to do simple fixes on their vehicles. I work with construction guys who shake their heads and call regular people idiots when they need to pay someone $30 an hour to put up a sheet of dry wall, slap on a layer of mud and paint it.

    You probably fit into one of those categories, and many, many more. So, do you feel like a complete incompetent idiot - a "drone" if you will - because you don't care to learn enough about these areas to make really informed decisions? Or like everyone else, do you simply pursue what you like and what you have to and learn about those things, and ignore the rest, even if it means you aren't *always* making the optimal choice?

    You're a drone not because you use Windows, but because you are so vehemently opposed to Apple for no good reason other than "it doesn't suit my tastes or needs". More people in the professional programming sector use MacBook Pros than Windows based laptops. I understand that you don't have much experience in IT or computer science, but that isn't a reason to hate something. If you took home a MacBook Air for a week and still had the same opinion, maybe you'd seem less foolish.

    Reply
  • stevejnb
    11787874 said:
    11787514 said:
    Edit: Tsk tsk, changed your post Smokey ;)

    Smokey, while there are *tons* of Microsoft users, I don't see all that many people who actually have the level of fanaticism that Apple fans have. Most people use MS because it's there and it's the standard and they don't know any better whereas a *lot* of Apple users use their products like they are a defining part of their lives that constitute a significant part of their personal identity. You never see someone talking about an MS product as a fashion accessory like a purse or the cool thing they brag to their friends about in school... Apple? All the bloody time.

    Also, as for the "cannot think for themselves at all." Us tech people are kinda snobby about this sort of thing but we don't realize that there are people in other venues that look at us the exact same way. I know foodies who laugh at us regular folks as nincompoops for buying crappy olive oil and thinking it's good, for eating inferior quality burgers at this or that place, for buying this or that cut of meat and thinking it's quality. I know car people who laugh their heads off as we get bent over by mechanics to do simple fixes on their vehicles. I work with construction guys who shake their heads and call regular people idiots when they need to pay someone $30 an hour to put up a sheet of dry wall, slap on a layer of mud and paint it.

    You probably fit into one of those categories, and many, many more. So, do you feel like a complete incompetent idiot - a "drone" if you will - because you don't care to learn enough about these areas to make really informed decisions? Or like everyone else, do you simply pursue what you like and what you have to and learn about those things, and ignore the rest, even if it means you aren't *always* making the optimal choice?

    You're a drone not because you use Windows, but because you are so vehemently opposed to Apple for no good reason other than "it doesn't suit my tastes or needs". More people in the professional programming sector use MacBook Pros than Windows based laptops. I understand that you don't have much experience in IT or computer science, but that isn't a reason to hate something. If you took home a MacBook Air for a week and still had the same opinion, maybe you'd seem less foolish.

    Yikes... So, without knowing the first thing about me, what kind of computer experience I have, and what I do for a living, your response to that post pretty much boils down to "Well, you obviously just haven't experienced the greatness that is Mac - you'd realize how great it was and change your tune."

    You know how I was talking about Apple snobs? Yep, that's most likely you based on that condescending "Well I'M so clever" response. If you don't consider "it doesn't suit my tastes and needs" a good reason to not invest in a product, I suspect I could talk at you all day and you'd sit there telling me I'm just not quite experience/smart/computer savvy enough to understand the greatness that is Mac.

    Have a nice day.
    Reply
  • smokeybravo
    11787923 said:
    11787874 said:
    11787514 said:
    Edit: Tsk tsk, changed your post Smokey ;)

    Smokey, while there are *tons* of Microsoft users, I don't see all that many people who actually have the level of fanaticism that Apple fans have. Most people use MS because it's there and it's the standard and they don't know any better whereas a *lot* of Apple users use their products like they are a defining part of their lives that constitute a significant part of their personal identity. You never see someone talking about an MS product as a fashion accessory like a purse or the cool thing they brag to their friends about in school... Apple? All the bloody time.

    Also, as for the "cannot think for themselves at all." Us tech people are kinda snobby about this sort of thing but we don't realize that there are people in other venues that look at us the exact same way. I know foodies who laugh at us regular folks as nincompoops for buying crappy olive oil and thinking it's good, for eating inferior quality burgers at this or that place, for buying this or that cut of meat and thinking it's quality. I know car people who laugh their heads off as we get bent over by mechanics to do simple fixes on their vehicles. I work with construction guys who shake their heads and call regular people idiots when they need to pay someone $30 an hour to put up a sheet of dry wall, slap on a layer of mud and paint it.

    You probably fit into one of those categories, and many, many more. So, do you feel like a complete incompetent idiot - a "drone" if you will - because you don't care to learn enough about these areas to make really informed decisions? Or like everyone else, do you simply pursue what you like and what you have to and learn about those things, and ignore the rest, even if it means you aren't *always* making the optimal choice?

    You're a drone not because you use Windows, but because you are so vehemently opposed to Apple for no good reason other than "it doesn't suit my tastes or needs". More people in the professional programming sector use MacBook Pros than Windows based laptops. I understand that you don't have much experience in IT or computer science, but that isn't a reason to hate something. If you took home a MacBook Air for a week and still had the same opinion, maybe you'd seem less foolish.

    Yikes... So, without knowing the first thing about me, what kind of computer experience I have, and what I do for a living, your response to that post pretty much boils down to "Well, you obviously just haven't experienced the greatness that is Mac - you'd realize how great it was and change your tune."

    You know how I was talking about Apple snobs? Yep, that's most likely you based on that condescending "Well I'M so clever" response. If you don't consider "it doesn't suit my tastes and needs" a good reason to not invest in a product, I suspect I could talk at you all day and you'd sit there telling me I'm just not quite experience/smart/computer savvy enough to understand the greatness that is Mac.

    Have a nice day.

    "It doesn't suit my tastes and needs" is a perfectly good reason to not buy something. But it's not a good reason to go on a tangent about how bad it is when you obviously have no experience with it. As much as I'd love to sit here and host a preschool logic session, I don't have the time.
    Reply
  • falchard
    OMG I found it, someone who thinks Macs are good on a tech site.

    C'mon if you have any sense in technology, you would know macs are outdated piles of garbage that tout around 1 piece of technology they got released on their platform first while the rest of their platform is years behind. Just look at the new Mac Pro's, 2 BRAND NEW video cards that combined still don't match a single 2 year old professional grade GPU they are based on.
    I'm really getting tired of people talking about how awesome Apple is when almost everything they make is done better by someone else.
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    You may not have the time for a preschool logic session Smokey, but boy could you use one. I don't know if my post set off your inner Steve Jobs or something, but you somehow have managed to miss the subtle but rather important point that I never even implied that Apple products were bad... And on top of that, I've got a fair bit of experience with them.

    Reread my original post and, prior to going into "GRRR enemy of Apple JOBS SMASH!!!" mode, try thinking to see if I actually said anything remotely bad about Apple - because you *really* seem hung up on something I never so much as hinted at.
    Reply