Office Pro 2010 What would an Apple-Adobe merger m
 

We interrupt our ongoing sequence of Microsoft reorg posts to speculate on 1 heck of the speculative post by pundit Robert Cringely.Cringely thinks an Apple-Adobe merger is sensible on a number of fronts. If it ever did appear to pass, it will make for interesting aggressive occasions vis-a-vis the pair;s relationship with Microsoft.Apple, with its expanding share with the retail Computer market and its monopolization of the digital-music player one, competes with Microsoft on many retail fronts (Vista, Zune,Purchase Windows 7, IPTV, productivity apps). Adobe, with its designer equipment, RIA (Rich Net Architecture) items,Windows 7 X86, document-management wares, and so on., competes with Microsoft on the Windows/Office/Silverlight fronts.Microsoft is building up its steady of products aimed at Adobe. Recently,Windows 7 Home Basic, I heard speak about a Microsoft-incubated item under improvement, recognized as SmartFlow. SmartFlow is meant to become a head-to-head competitor with PhotoShop LightRoom post-production software for expert photographers. If and when Microsoft decides to flip SmartFlow right into a commercial item,Office Pro 2010, it'll be just 1 much more part in its growing family of Windows-specific equipment, interfaces and providers targeted at amateur and expert photographers.Meanwhile,Windows 7 Ultimate, there;s been continued speculation Microsoft is going to try to deliver extra Apple iLife-like apps for Vista (Microsoft “Monaco,” anyone?) And “Fiji” (which I now hear Microsoft is calling Media Center + 1) continues to be described as “Media Center + fixes + some (Apple) iLife-compete work.”Even if Apple doesn;t end up buying Adobe — which is my crystal-ball prediction — Microsoft is on an increasing collision course with both of these companies as the Redmondians try to flip up the volume on their own consumer-focused products.