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1981-1983
During the development of the Macintosh in the early 80s, Microsoft was an important ally. Apple needed groundbreaking softwares for it’s upcoming platform and Microsoft was one of the few companies developing for it. It was a crucial phase for Apple. -
Copying the OS
Steve Jobs wanted to dominate the computer bussiness, but Microsoft didn't want to be irrelevant or to depend on Apple,so for years Microsoft's engineers copied the Macintosh OS and created their own Graphical OS: Windows. -
1983-1996
For the next 15 years, Apple would engage in a strange relationship with Microsoft. On one end, Microsoft was prying marketshare away from Apple, on the other, it was one of its biggest partner. Steve Jobs would soon leave Apple and create NeXT but would not succeed to make a dent in Microsoft’s dominance. Along the way, Jobs often sparred with Microsoft, criticizing the company’s lack of creativity. -
The lawsuit
Apple Computer, Inc. vs. Microsoft Corporation, 35 F.3d 1435 (9th Cir. 1994) was a copyright infringement lawsuit in which Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) sought to prevent Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard from using visual graphical user interface (GUI) elements that were similar to those in Apple's Lisa and Macintosh operating systems. -
Documentary The Triumph of Nerds
“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste,” Jobs said in the 1996 public television documentary “Triumph of the Nerds.” “They have absolutely no taste. And I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their products.” In a New York Times article that ran after the documentary aired, Jobs disclosed that he called Gates afterward to apologize. But only to a degree. -
Steve Jobs returns to Apple
Things changed when Steve Jobs came back at Apple in 1997. On the brink of bankruptcy, Jobs turned to his ‘old acquaintance’ Bill Gates for help. -
The Microsoft Deal
At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would be entering into a partnership with Microsoft. Included in this was a five-year commitment from Microsoft to release Microsoft Office for Macintosh as well as a US$150 million investment in Apple. -
I'll do mobiles, you'll do PCs
t’s now 2003 and iPods are selling like hotcakes. The Apple brand is cool again.Apple understood it could not compete with Microsoft on the desktop so it brought the battle to another field: mobile. Here, Microsoft is a minor player. Apple doesn’t need Microsoft like it did at the turn of the millenium. So Steve doesn’t have to play nice anymore. -
Reunited
Steve’s sudden change of attitude towards Microsoft in the mid-00s seems to indicate that.There’s however an event that is even more striking. During All Things D5 in 2007, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were ‘finally’ reunited on a stage. Steve was given the opportunity to praise Bill Gates when asked what Bill’s contribution to the PC industry was. Steve’s answer was rather generic: “Bill was the first to truly see the value of software.” That’s all… -
Sources
http://everystevejobsvideo.com/steve-jobs-bill-gates-and-microsoft-its-complicated/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corp.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Apple_Inc.