I'd like to thank Computing Japan and John Boyd for the thought-provoking Industry Eye column, "The Times, They Are A-Changing" (July, p. 48). These are indeed exciting times we live in.

However, the statement, "... Apple is positively cozying up to Microsoft, and Microsoft is now a major Macintosh developer" is very misleading. It implies that at one time Microsoft was not a major Macintosh developer and has recently become one. This is simply not the case. Microsoft made a commitment to the Mac from the beginning, and has been (and still is) by far the biggest Macintosh software publisher no matter how you look at it: number of programmers, sales revenue, revenue per Mac sold, etc.

Aside from Apple -- with MacPaint and MacWrite, which were bundled with the first Macs -- Microsoft was the first software publisher to have a multi-title array of software ready for sale when the Mac first shipped in 1984. Many of our most popular titles came out first on the Mac: Excel, Powerpoint, the Office bundle, etc.

Microsoft has continued to invest in the Mac platform, and the Macintosh unit at Microsoft is now a billion dollar a year business. One aspect that many journalists overlook [is] the fact that Microsoft places its priorities on the business aspects of our relationships rather than the emotional ones. So while Microsoft was being taken to court by Apple in the early 1990s, we continued to invest in and grow the Macintosh business. The same principle applies in the reasoning behind the decision to license Java, or our ongoing investments in set-top box OS technology.

Anyway, the point is that Microsoft is and always was a major Mac developer. Anyone that doubts this should have a look at the Macintosh version of the Internet Explorer browser that has been proclaimed by several prominent Mac developers as the best browser for the Macintosh. (You can download it at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie.htm.)

John Boyd has been around long enough, and been a Mac user long enough, to know this.

James LaLonde
Manager, Industry Marketing
Microsoft (Japan)

The author replies:

"Hey James, my own eyebrows shot up when I read that sentence. You are absolutely right, I should know better -- and I do. My original sentence read: 'Now, under new CEO Gil Amelio, Apple is positively roseying up to Microsoft, a major Macintosh software developer.' Perhaps someone at Computing Japan can explain why the change was made?"--John Boyd

Ah, the power of a small, misplaced word. The explanation is that, during editing, we goofed, pure and simple -- and then didn't catch our error during proofing. My apologies to Apple and Microsoft for the misleading statement, and especially to John. --Ed.

In recent issues, there are several references to Win/V as a solution for handling Japanese on English Windows 3.1. Although we have moved from Tokyo to Vancouver, Canada, Fast River Systems is still selling and supporting our popular Win/V Japanese Language Kit package. Readers wishing to find out more about Win/V, or current users wishing to download free updates, are invited to visit the new Win/V Web homepage at http://www.interchange .ubc.ca/gregsmit/winvhome.html.

Gregory C. Smith
President, Fast River Systems Ltd.