What was a Palm before there was a Palm? A Newton
Today, many people take their Palm devices and Pocket PCs for granted. Even full-scale tablet PCs are becoming more mainstream. But in the early 1990s, the idea was radical that you could carry a handheld computer around that could manage a great deal of information and run its own applications - let alone that the computer could recognize a variation of your own handwriting. Yet, Apple pioneered this technological feat before anyone else with the Newton. The Newton was bigger than today's handheld computers (though not terribly), had its own operating system and could be used to record and sync information with a Mac or PC. Unfortunately, the handwriting recognition routines built into the Newton focused more on learning a person's handwriting and less on a person learning a modified script (like Palm's Graffiti, which was licensed by Apple for later Newton models). The Newton developed a fairly loyal user base, never quite took off -- although the concept certainly did. Apple produced these great devices until 1998, even creating a model that included a keyboard and more traditional laptop design called the eMate that was sold as a low-cost laptop for education.
Mac OS vs. Windows
Most Mac users know the sordid tale of the fight between the Mac OS and Windows. Apple needed productivity software for the Mac and turned to Microsoft to develop the fist version of Office for Mac. Microsoft agreed, but the contract enabled them to develop and use the Mac's GUI elements -- arguably to produce software for the Mac. This later gave Microsoft the ability to develop its own GUI interface, which became Windows 3.1 and later Windows 95, 98, Me and Windows NT, 2000 and XP. Apple and Microsoft remained locked in a lawsuit over Windows's similarity with the Mac for years but eventually lost. In the meantime, because Windows could be licensed by and run on any number of low cost PCs, it became the de-facto computer operating system in the business world.
Mac OS on Intel -- Part I