In August 1997, longtime Microsoft rival Computer was teetering on the brink of disaster and in desperate need of cash. Microsoft rode to the rescue, in nonvoting Apple stock. As part of the deal, Microsoft agreed to continue to develop Microsoft Office for the Mac, and Apple agreed to bundle Internet Explorer with the Mac OS operating system as the default browser.

Both parts of the agreement have since fallen by the wayside: IE for the Mac is gone, and although Microsoft continues to update Office for the Mac (usually some time after the Windows version is updated), it isn't required to do so.

In February 1976, Gates issued a public letter berating people who were freely distributing tapes of the version of BASIC he and Paul Allen wrote for the Altair, without paying Microsoft for them. Here are excerpts from Gates' "," sent to the Homebrew Computer Club: