The likes of Lotus Development Corp and Wordperfect Corp were thoroughly wrong-footed by the runaway success of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 3.0 and are seeing reduced business on their flagship products as a result of not having versions designed to run under Windows 3 – all of which leads them to wonder whether it is pure coincidence that they were not strongly advised to be ready for the new release and the fact that Microsoft has its own well-fancied Excel spreadsheet and Word word processor which of course come in Windows 3 versions. And Microsoft is not about to let its advantage slip: yesterday it announced a new bundle, the Microsoft Office for Windows, which combines Excel for Windows spreadsheet, Word for Windows word processor and PowerPoint for Windows presentation graphics, the Windows version of the Mac program of the same name. The bundle sells for $1,000 against $1,500 when bought separately and the price stands until year-end. It needs a minimum 80286 with 2Mb, EGA or Hercules graphics, hard disk – and Windows 3.0 of course.
