New and Noteworthy: Memo: Microsoft threatened to shut down Mac Office; Adobe confirms CS3 (including Photoshop) launch date

Memo: Microsoft threatened to shut down Mac Office Computerworld reports that Microsoft threatened to cancel development of Office for the Mac prior to a landmark partnership under which Microsoft bought $150 million of Apple stock and promised continued development of Office for Mac for 5 years. The memo indicated that halting Office for Mac development would "do a great deal of harm" to Apple. "The 1997 memo from Ben Waldman, at the time the head of Microsoft's Macintosh development group, to then-CEO Bill Gates, urged Mac Office 97's release. The suite, which in June 1997 had not yet reached beta, was eventually released as Office 98 in March 1998. But Waldman understood that the next Mac Office was a stick that could be used against Apple. 'The threat to cancel Mac Office 97 is certainly the strongest bargaining point we have, as doing so will do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately. I also think that Apple is taking this threat pretty seriously,' Waldman said in his e-mail to Gates." More.

Adobe confirms CS3 (including Photoshop) launch date Ars Technica reports that Adobe has confirmed morning that the next version of its popular Creative Suite will be launched in a few weeks, on March 27. "The launch will take place at a special event in New York City, says the company, which will be webcast globally at 3:30pm Eastern Time. The launch date for CS3 has been long-anticipated, with some rumors claiming that Adobe would roll out Photoshop before the rest of the suite in order to kick-start sales. Adobe describes the launch as 'the largest software release in Adobe's 25-year history'?a pretty ambitious-sounding description if you ask me. What can we expect from this amazing launch? Well, Adobe's staying somewhat mum on that. They have, however, released a teaser video to get us excited about what to expect." More.

Previously on MacFixIt:

• Pods causing right earphone/earbud to fail?
• Firefox 2.0.0.2 (#4): Will not remember stored passwords, fixes

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