Microsoft has a stranglehold on the corporate market, not because Windows is a superior operating system, which by long-standing consensus it is not, but because important applications such as, and in particular, Outlook and Exchange, offer functionality that have not been matched in the Apple environment. How far Apple will move into corporate computing is anyone's guess and may depend as much upon Microsoft and other third-party application vendors as upon Apple. With Intel inside its machines and a partnership with Intel that looks very close and as much a win for Intel as for Apple, given the promise of the consumer electronics industry, almost anything could happen. Big corporations take a long time to change course. But business patterns are changing very quickly. Mobility is now the mantra for many. The internet is all-powerful and will become more so. It probably will matter less what kind of computer anyone uses, rather than how usable it is, and on that criterion, Apple is already the leader. |