"We have a plan to continue supporting the Mac, and it has nothing to do with whether we have a technology agreement," Kevin Browne, general manager of Microsoft's Macintosh business unit, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

"In order to cement that message with customers we have detailed fairly long-range plans about how we will evolve our products," Browne said.

In August 1997, Microsoft signed an agreement promising to keep making Mac versions of vital software like the Office set of productivity programs and the Internet Explorer Web browser.

The Office support was most important since many analysts said cutting off Mac users from that software would likely spell the death of Apple.

But the technology pact expires this August, and fears that Microsoft could abandon Mac support have risen among analysts and some Apple enthusiasts in recent months.

On Wednesday, Browne told a monthly forum on Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus that his unit was fully devoted to Apple's new operating system, OS X, and would continue making Office, Explorer and other software as long as it was profitable to do so.

He also offered a glimpse into how it would include Mac users in Microsoft's grandiose .NET strategy to roll out Web-based services, saying it would build .NET support into Office to enable things like Web-based access to calendars, address books and even documents.

DOUBTS REMAIN

However, some questions about Microsoft's devotion still remain. For instance, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Executive Steve Ballmer have failed to voice support for Apple in recent months, said analyst Rob Enderle of Giga Information Group.

"The commitment is coming from a division and not coming from corporate. Typically, something that you can depend upon needs to come from Gates or Ballmer," Enderle said.

"The lack of that support at this point remains troubling," Enderle said.

Browne said his unit is too small to warrant frequent public attention from top executives, saying, "I'm fairly comfortable with where we are."

But another problem, according to Enderle, is that the two firms have crossed swords in the legal arena lately, with Apple criticizing Microsoft's proposed settlement of a private antitrust suit, a deal that was eventually turned down by a federal judge.

"In this particular case it's troubling because Apple is on the wrong side of the litigation that Microsoft is fighting for its life. Historically, Microsoft has looked back and decided not to support the folks who were on the wrong side," Enderle said.

Browne said he had been disappointed in Apple's lack of support for the settlement, which would have donated hundreds of millions of dollars in computers and software to schools, but was scuttled because it was deemed to give Microsoft an edge over rivals like Apple in the education market.

Asked if Apple's criticism of Microsoft had hurt their relationship Browne replied: "No. To date, no. I would think over the long term we value the partnership and want it to benefit both companies, and we would hope Apple also views it that way," Browne said.

"There are plenty of positive aspects to the relationship," he added.

Source: Reuters