Apple to pro-war? - Computerworld

Free office software and free creative software for both Mac and iOS tablets. Oh, and free operating system, then.

Software section of Apple’s launch show Tuesday this week attracted attention because Apple is signaling that it will no longer be paid for this software.

Well, that’s not the case, then. In writing rules still some confusion about who qualifies for free update and not. We also have hard to believe that Apple will cease to charge for their professional video, photo and music applications like Final Cut Pro, Aperture and Logic Pro X – for example, costs the latter day in 1400 dollars.

But the operating system – OS X – as well as office applications in the iWork suite and the creative software in the iLife suite to many of Apple’s customers have to pay anything.

Read also: New iWork for iOS and OS X is here

Previously, Apple has taken the charge – albeit not as much as Microsoft – the major upgrades of the operating system, just like a charge for upgrading from eg Windows 7 to Windows 8 Minor updates along the way is free.

The same applies to some other software. For example, the iLife applications with creative software followed with new Macs long while upgrading to the new version has cost money, in practice, the same amount as for those who purchase applications as new.

Now the free upgrade of iLife and iWork for almost everyone, even if it often requires that you upgrade the operating system to Mac OS X version 10.9 Mavericks or iOS operating system version iOS 7

From

from edge to drag the field again

The most basic historical difference between Microsoft and Apple is that Microsoft’s operating systems can be applied to a large number of computer types and brands, while Apple’s operating system can only run on Macs that the company produces. Apple operates ie in a closed world.

See also: MacBook Retina updated

Apple’s business strategy has largely been seen as a great advantage for the company, which has avoided competition from manufacturers of cheap hardware on their s monopoly. Thus, the company has been able to maintain a relatively high profit margin even with modest market share.

On the other hand, the strategy made it difficult to spread the company’s fairly comprehensive software business over to other platforms.

In some years in the 1990s meant the then Apple management that it would be wise to spread the operating system to multiple machine manufacturers and opened the “Authorized Mac clones.” But the strategy did not last long. One of the first things Steve Jobs did when he returned to the company after over 10 years of absence, was to slam the door. He said clearly that what some claimed had become an obstacle for Apple, on the contrary, was a great advantage. So back to the closed world.

Now it appears that Apple has become even more aware that just software development company that operates with can strengthen computer sales even more than the hardware developers and designers have managed to reach. We saw it when iOS 7 came for iPad and iPhone earlier this fall. Among the various reactions was this the most prominent: Many users said they felt as if they had gotten a new iPhone or iPad.

Read also: New Mac Pro coming in December

reason was an extensive redesign of the screen that the device felt new.

Now we do not believe that this gave Apple management a revelation experience that they can win the world easier by redesigning the software than hardware. Apple’s basic strategies hardly controlled by incident basis.

APP STORE: More apps in the App Store will be free in the future.

But now that Apple has concluded that cheap or almost free software will improve hardware sales, seems obvious. During the launch on Tuesday, Apple made-management fun of Microsoft’s new subscription plan for Office 365 to 99 dollars a year. If you buy the Mac, you have as good progravare free, including future upgrades, was the underlying message.

More importantly, perhaps, the increased integration that the updated software offering with unified format regardless of whether the documents processed on a Mac or iOS device – or to some extent actually Windows PC, for that matter fault. Apple’s virtually free software world provides access to the Agreed “Apple universe” where you get done just about everything you want from virtually any Apple device.

Meets the needs

For non-professional creative computer users think that the possibilities iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand offers’ needs both in the domestic and to some extent on the job. Here we are talking about ie software to organize and edit photos, edit and share videos and making music. The latter can involve anything from creating standalone music compositions almost professional quality to just mix together some royalty-free background music and sound effects to your video or slideshow you’ve created in iMovie or iPhoto.

Also read: Apple’s battle for few millimeters

And iWork package is really, despite its simplicity, a competitor to the very Microsoft Office. While Microsoft certainly will snort of claim.

Yes, you can certainly set up a daunting list of features for Word that will show that SA does not reach to the knees even Word. But what it tells about the reality of those who are tasked to write words and put them into documents? That’s a long time since someone first claimed that 90 percent of users of Office applications use only 10 percent of the features. Or something like that.

I have subsisted me of writing for over 40 years and have probably used Microsoft Word more than any other word processor, even though I am among those who also remembers programs WordStar and WordPerfect. But I’ve actually written quite a few articles in Apple’s Pages application as well, and I can not remember having headed the roof even once for that reason.

Some would probably argue that it’s because I just run rudimentary word processing, but those who know me, know that I have deep roots in desktop publishing, as we called it in the 1980s – and the 1990s. I can therefore invoke me to have a sense of design documents, when needed. SA has never been an obstacle to it.

My point is even if Apple’s word processing program can certainly be characterized as simple in comparison to everything that Word has to offer, there are too many users a full-featured word processor. And it is my contention that the other iWork apps, presentation program Keynote and Numbers spreadsheet application, for many does the job fine enough.

Do not lose sleep over

Now, I do not think that Microsoft is losing sleep because if Apple offers free competitors to Office programs. But the message from Apple that you get with virtually everything you need software without having to pay a penny more than the machine costs, may well contribute to a noticeable strengthening of Apple’s position vis-à-vis competitors.

Apple will certainly not get rid of the piston to supply animal products with this, but those who have begun to sniff the Apple world, enjoy them with the hardware now getting by as much useful and fun software that in practice they do not have to worry about software procurement for a long time. If the employer requires them to use Microsoft Office, then. And it’s no problem for the package are the also in several casts for Mac.

So while Apple users now sitting and looking forward to the prospect of a lot of free software from Apple, Microsoft, Adobe and other major software giants continue to fight with their customers about software henceforth be sold license based or via subscription.