Microsoft Corp’s recent announcement of Word 5.0 for the Apple Computer Inc Macintosh had plenty of references to user-requested features and technical innovations such as a plug-in architecture that will enable users to add modules of functionality after installing Word. But, behind the scenes, Word 5.0 introduces a capability that could have more important implications for Mac users and developers, and on the relationship between Apple Computer and Microsoft, than the new integrated grammar checker or the new Print Merge Helper, comments Microbytes. By bringing out Object Linking and Embedding, OLE, for the Mac, built on top of the AppleEvents mechanism designed into System 7.0, Microsoft could set an independent, de facto standard for inter-application communication that Apple itself may be forced to comply with. The plug-in modules for what Microsoft calls a new, modular architecture are a new tack taken in Word 5. Some of the new features such as Find File, drawing, and speech annotation of documents are implemented through plug-ins. (As part of its support for System 7.0, the new version supports TrueType fonts). Microsoft also announced that a new plug-in module, WordBasic, will be added within six months. Described as an editable macro programming language by Microsoft, it should be consistent with the one in Microsoft Word for Windows. The list of new features Microsoft put into Word 5 are not stars individually, but together they further enhance the Mac’s best-selling word processor. Drag-and-drop enables a block of text to be moved without need to use the clipboard: simply highlight the desired text and then drag it with the mouse. The Print Merge Helper guides the user through the often-confusing process of setting up a form letter. Find File enables a document to be located by author, date or keywords. And the Equation Editor is bundled in with new draw tools for basic graphics. But other programs that might want to access these plug-ins – after all, one of the promises of System 7.0 is that users can send AppleEvents to other applications and they will give back a response – will have to use the object-linking model. With the new version of Word for Macintosh, Microsoft is letting out a suite of System 7.0-compliant AppleEvents for use by its installed base. With Microsoft’s well-entrenched position in the business market through Word for the Mac, the company could encourage developers to adopt, or at least grudgingly support, OLE object-linking. Such a move may appeal to Microsoft users that have to support several environments, but Object Linking and Embedding may set a standard that Apple doesn’t want to support. With Microsoft’s influence in the industry, OLE could possibly become a de facto standard, independent of what Apple may or may not define as a core AppleEvent.
