brilliant strategy by Apple?

Apple is working with Sun on StarOffice for OS/X !

imagine if every Mac came bundled with StarOffice for OSX. This solves a number of problems for Apple - in that it lessens their dependency on their deteriorating relationship with Apple. It strengthens the value of buying an Apple, because now each Mac has the ability to handle (simple) Microsoft documents right out-of-the-box. It further enhances the relationship between Mac users and Unix users, which is a natural one given the freeBSD underpinnings of OSX.

All of this could mean more new sales - partly from users of unix/linux/bsd, and partly from the PC side who may have been inclined but afraid to make the switch for lack of software (getting Star Office for free instead of paying 300 to M$ is a non-trivial advantage)

And of course, it also is a boost to open source software, assuming that Apple is willing to give back to the community (not a given assumption). More users of StarOffice could lead to more development funding and user testing, leading to improvements that could improve StarOffice's image on the PC side as a viable alternative. And of course to the Linux community, since owning a Free Software system would be made more attractive and less of a risk.

The only loser is Microsoft. I bet they aren't happy :)