New & Noteworthy: Microsoft's Mac Debacle; Intel Falls

Into MHz Trap; RealNetworks Trims Staff

Microsoft's Mac debacle In his "Byte of the Apple" column, BusinessWeek correspondent Charles Haddad explores Microsoft's threats to reconsider Mac development if OS X adoption - and subsequently sales of Office v.X - don't improve. Haddad writes "Would the Mac platform really collapse without Microsoft's support? I, for one, am skeptical. Certainly, the Mac wouldn't suffer any loss in computer functionality... You can duplicate most, if not all, of Office's functionality, however, with programs from smaller developers -- and for less than half the cost." More.

Intel falls into MHz trap It seems that Intel is getting a taste of its own medicine with new low-power chips the company has been developing in Israel. While the chips perform more work per cycle, they are plagued by significantly lower clock speeds than the Pentium 4, presenting a marketing hurdle. ZDNN reports the new chip, code-named Banias, will ship in the first quarter of 2003 at 1.4GHz, 1.5GHz and 1.6GHz. More.

RealNetworks to trim staff RealNetworks, the Seattle-based developer that recently released its RealOne player for Mac OS X, will be cutting about 10 percent of its staff according to a Washington Post report. The company will cut about 80 jobs from its body of 900, and take a restructuring charge of up to $6 million in the process. More.