Who Is Apple’s New “Good Buddy?” Microsoft.

Dylan said it best. “The times, they are a changin.” What a difference a decade makes.

Could it be more evident that Apple’s latest high tech friend, pal, good buddy is none other than arch rival Microsoft?

It was almost 10 years ago when Apple was about to hit bottom; bleeding money and customers.

At the end of 1996, Apple announced a deal to acquire Steve Jobs’ NeXT, and with it, Steve Jobs began the long road back.

By all accounts, Apple has never, ever been in better shape than now. Ever.

More Macs are being sold than ever before. Apple owns a market segment with the iPod.

Record sales and profits arrive each quarter and the company sits on $10-billion in cash.

What of Apple’s long-time nemesis and arch rival Microsoft? The Windows maker is Apple’s best friend these days.

What? Doesn’t Mac OS X compete with Windows? Yes, thanks in no small part to Apple’s pal, Steve Ballmer and Microsoft.

How is it possible that Apple gains so much from Microsoft as a new found buddy?

Microsoft is screwing up left and right and up and down and that only benefits Apple as a viable, affordable, attractive alternative.

One reason is the long delay of Windows Vista, Microsoft’s next generation operating system for PCs.

It’s more akin to Apple’s already-shelved OS X Panther.

What’s in Vista? Even John Dvorak thinks that Vista is everything that Mac OS X has already been. Read the feature list. What do you think?

CNet News says Microsoft is pulling the plug in MSN Music downloads, crushed by Apple’s iTunes Store. Apple must be saying, “Thank you, Bill.”

How many ways can Apple’s number one competitor screw over their customers? There’s no end.

Microsoft’s new Zune media player, the latest in a string of so-called iPod killers, may kill some of Microsoft’s own PlaysForSure customers.

Silicon.com points out that Zune is probably going to be US only; not UK, not Europe, not Japan, and not much competition.

What of the Zune? CNet says it’ll disappoint Microsoft’s media player and PlaysForSure partners and customers. Why? Music and movies bought elswhere won’t run on Zune.

Wait. There’s more reasons that Microsoft is Apple’s new best buddy.

In eWeek, Seven J. Vaughan-Nichols says Windows Vista Will Suck. Who says that about Mac OS X Tiger?

Even Microsoft’s new pricing for Windows Vista makes Apple’s OS X look like a bargain. Why? ZDnet’s Ed Bott spilled the beans on Vista’s pricing, but it took a S Slashdotter to bring the prices into focus.

Does it appear to you that Microsoft is doing everything it can to screw up its business so Apple has a fighting chance? What are true friends for?

Microsoft introduces their best browser ever, MSIE 7. What happens? Market share goes down for Microsoft as Apple’s Safari increases (Firefox, too).

Make no mistake about this trend. Microsoft is showing their respect and consideration for their longtime Cupertino computer maker competitor by giving Apple every inch it can afford.

Among headlines of the past year, Microsoft has threatened to leave Europe, leave China, even leave their cash with their poor shareholders.

Could Apple ask for a better friend? Microsoft is slowly sacrificing itself so Apple may gain and grow and prosper. That’s what friends are for, right?