Tech Rivalry: Microsoft vs. Apple

This morning in our weekly installment of America's Greatest Business Rivals we took a look at the rivalry between Microsoft and Apple. How ironic given the news over the weekend that Microsoft withdrew it's $44 billion bid ($31 a share) for Yahoo!  Microsoft and Apple have been fierce competitors for years and at times great partners. It's a fascinating rival and one that has had its fair share of blood. We took a look back at how the rivalry began, how it has evolved and where it is headed. Here is a brief synopsis on the history of the rivalry. 

Arik Hesseldahl, tech writer for Businessweek, Mary Jo Foley, author of ZDNet's All About Microsoft Blog and author of the book Microsoft 2.0 and Leander Kahney, author of Inside Steve's Brain and The Cult of Mac, joined me to discuss the competition between the corporate focused Microsoft and consumer focused Apple and how they plan to play on each other's turfs.  

Arik talked about an article written by Businessweek (a cover story) entitled Apple's OS Edge Is a Threat to Microsoft, in which they discuss the evolution of Apple's operating system and the toggling feauture known as Spaces, which allows Mac users to switch from a Macintosh Operating system to a Microsoft Windows Operating system and back with the switch of a finger. As Morgenthaler (the author of the article) noted, "The easy virtualization of two radically different operating systems on a single desktop paves a classic migration path. Business users will be tempted. Apple is positioning itself to challenge Microsoft for overall computing dominance-even in the corporate realm"  

Mary Jo and Arik talked about the co-dependent relationship between Microsoft and Apple. Arik noted "without Microsoft, Apple wouldn't be what it is today." Mary Jo said Apple isn't really a threat to Microsoft particularly in the Corporate World where Apple has very little exposure.  

Leander talked about where these companies are headed and how Micosoft's decision to pull away from Yahoo may be a temporary one. He also emphasized that the two companies, Microsoft and Apple, are headed down two different paths. He believes Apple will dominate in the next ten to 20 years. It will be the next Microsoft. Mobile products will become the next PC.  

Take a look. This is one of America's Greatest Business Rivals!