The resurgent popularity of Macs means we see more and more in our client's offices, and nine times of 10 they'll have Microsoft Office for Mac on them -- which is about $400 for the version of Office that includes Entourage with Exchange support. (As a quick aside, we've lost track of how many times we've seen people buy the $100 version of Office with the crippled Entourage that cannot talk to Exchange. Note to Microsoft: People in that situation feel tricked.)
So, what does having Exchange support built-in to Mac OS X mean? For one, it means that Apple's already nice programs Mail, iCal, and Address Book become a lot more useful for most: Email, tasks, and to-dos will show up in Mail; Appointments and room reservations show up in iCal; and contacts show up in Address Book. This event video shows a demonstration at about the 40-minute mark.
Second, It seems the Apple marketing machine has decided Exchange integration is one of the top bullet points of Snow Leopard. People will hear about this feature. And Apple is making sure the price is palatable too: Starting in September all new Macs will come with Snow Leopard, and the upgrade for existing Mac owners is $29.
Third, we figure people will, by and large, stop paying for the $400 version of Office. Some didn't buy it anyway (see above), but now it's hard to see who would spend a $300 premium for the Exchange-enabled Entourage. That audience would appear to shrink to encompass only those people who find the Outlook-like look of Entourage familiar enough they prefer it.
With the release of iWork '09, Apple's Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are finally strong contenders against Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. iWork coupled with Snow Leopard appears to throw down a gauntlet and reduce the price premium of buying a Mac -- say what you will about hardware costs, but most PC users get their versions of Office/Outlook bundled without paying $400.
Is this the beginning of a new front in the Microsoft vs. Apple war of words, or is Apple fighting to keep TCO down for their users?
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