David Coursey in ZDNet News: Will Microsoft pull the plug on Apple? concludes with - "Microsoft should commit to providing all its core functionality and features on a cross-platform basis. That doesn't mean Microsoft needs to create a bunch of new Mac versions of its applications--although that would be nice. Rather, Microsoft should promise that Mac users of .Net and Microsoft's calendars, e-mail, contact managers, Web browsers, media players, instant messaging, media authoring, and other core technologies will have the same functionality as their Windows kin."

Whilst I think that it would be foolhardy for Microsoft not to renew its current commitment to the Mac, I doubt very much that they'll go as far as to make the functionality of the Mac products equivalent to the Windows versions. They will not see it in their interest to do so. In other words, they'll want to differentiate the Windows platform from the Mac platform. No doubt, companies like Intel, AMD, Dell, etc., are bending Microsoft's ear about these differentiators too!