Apple and Microsoft: The Way They Were

These days, it’s hard to imagine a time when Microsoft and Apple didn’t get along in some sense. You’ve got Microsoft Office running natively on OS X and iTunes running on Windows—heck, you can even boot Windows XP on a Mac with both Microsoft’s and Apple’s blessings. It’s hard to imagine that there ever was a time when Microsoft and Apple were entrenched in a bitter war, for both mindshare and marketshare. The copyright infringement lawsuit, the near demise of Apple, the truly Orwellian image of Bill Gates on the big screen at MacWorld Boston in 1997—they all seem like distant memories. However, I was reminded by the excitement surrounding a Dell vs. Mac pricing story last week that some old rivalries never die. To that end, let’s relive some of the highs and lows of the Apple vs. Microsoft war, shall we?

Long ago, a young, nerdy Bill Gates harbored a soft spot for the Mac:
Steve Jobs, however, felt that Microsoft has “no taste”:
And finally, the rivalry came to an end with rapturous applause and laughter: