其實這並不是蘋果市值第一次超越微軟。上一次蘋果市值超過微軟是在 1989 年 12 月 19 日，距今快二十一年。相對於蘋果的十倍成長，微軟在近十年來股價起伏不大，不過微軟的營收仍多於蘋果約 10 億美元。此外，由於微軟約有一成的股票不是以公開方式發行，而蘋果幾乎全部的股票都是公開發行，所以若審視所有的普通股，嚴格說來微軟的市值其實仍超過蘋果一小截，不過這仍無損於蘋果營收與市值蒸蒸日上的事實。
想當初在 1996 年年底蘋果正風雨飄搖之際， Steve Jobs 回到蘋果，隨後以代理執行長（iCEO）的身分開始對帳面已經是赤字的蘋果進行整頓，一連串的救亡圖存動作就此展開，包括了帶入 Rhapsody 、終止相容機政策、停止 Newton 手持裝置與作業系統的發展等，其中很具歷史吊詭與咀嚼興味的，就是 1997 年「微軟宣布投資蘋果」一事，這讓蘋果宛若吃下了一顆定心丸。
其實當初蘋果與微軟達成的協議不只是投資而已，整個協議共有五項，分別是為期五年的專利相互交叉授權（Patent Cross License）、微軟在往後五年繼續推出為數與視窗版本相同的 Mac 版 MS Office 、 Internet Explorer 成為 Mac 系統中的預設網頁瀏覽器軟體、 Java 上的相容性合作，以及微軟斥資 1.5 億美元以市價購買蘋果現股並承諾三年內不脫手。不過當初許多人難以想像微軟會願意投資蘋果，其實對於微軟而言，蘋果的 Mac OS 平台也是個十分重要的市場，趁低價買進蘋果股票，並且換得 IE 等其他利益，有什麼不可以？
Jobs 是在 1997 年的 Macworld Boston 大會上宣布這項消息，當 Bill Gates 的臉孔被投影在布幕上時，虛聲四起；而偌大的 Gates 望著講台上的 Jobs 與台下的觀眾，令人遙想蘋果知名的《1984》廣告，當時想必讓許多死忠的蘋果愛用者感慨不已。曾幾何時，蘋果的市值超越微軟，再次想起 1997 年的吊詭；回想這些年來 Jobs 所推出的 i 系列軟硬體產品睥睨四方，與鬼門關前晃一回的矽谷驚奇，咀嚼其中的酸甜苦辣，真是百味雜陳。
在 Jobs 當年的演說結語中，呼應《Think Different》（不同凡想）廣告的內容，講述他個人對於蘋果品牌意義的看法。 Jobs 說：「在購買蘋果的電腦時，你必須有著不同於常人的想法；我想那些買了蘋果電腦的人們的確想法不同，而且是世上深具創意的靈魂。他們不僅只求把工作做完，而且還打算改變世界。他們使用各種能夠獲得的好工具來改變世界，而蘋果公司便在製造這些人所需要的工具。」
「今天，我希望你們因為看到若干不同凡想的開始而深具信心，我們也將會以不同的思考方式，服務那些從一開始就購買我們產品的人們。因為許多時候他們被視為瘋子，但在這些瘋狂行徑中，我們看到了天才，我們便是為這些人們來製造他們所需的工具。」
這段演說發表後十餘年來， Jobs 與蘋果的確繼續以不同凡想的方式來推陳出新，不但讓蘋果公司成長至今日的規模，而且也讓更多的人們因為使用了蘋果的產品而與眾不同，更改變了許多產業的生態，並深深影響了多少企業與產品往後的發展方向。這不只是能用「瘋狂」二字一語帶過，你我不得不承認 Jobs 真的也很天才。
以下是 1997 年的 Macworld Boston 大會 Jobs 宣布微軟投資的片段，以及蘋果知名的《1984》與《Think Different》廣告：
以下是近十年來蘋果與微軟股價起伏比較圖：
以下是 Jobs 在 1997 年 Macworld Boston 上介紹與微軟協議的原文內容：
Now I'd like to talk about meaningful partners. Apple lives in an ecosystem, and it needs help from other partners. It needs to help other partners. And relationships that are destructive don't help anybody in this industry as it is today. So during the last several weeks, we have looked at some of the relationships, and one has stood out as a relationship that hasn't been going so well but had the potential, I think, to be great for both companies. And I'd like to announce one of our first partnerships today, a very, very meaningful one. And that is one with Microsoft. I'd like to take you through this. The discussions actually began because there were some patent disputes. And, rather than... I know. Rather than repeating history, I'm extremely proud of both companies that they have resolved these differences in a very, very professional way. And this has led, I think, to an overall relationship that we're announcing today that has got several parts to it, and we're extremely excited about.
First part of it is a patent settlement and cross-license. The two companies have received a full cross-license for all patents that exist and for patents that are filed within the next five years. It has been a very serious patent settlement. The second part of this is, Microsoft is committing to release Microsoft Office on Macintosh for the next five years. They are going to release the same number of major releases as they release on Windows during that time. Their first release, they're going to target to have it out near the end of the year, it might slip a few months into next year, but they're working real hard on it, and it looks very, very good. Next, we have taken a look at browsers out there and Apple has decided to make Internet Explorer its default browser on the Macintosh. Since we believe in choice, we're going to be shipping other Internet browsers, as well, on the Macintosh, and the user can, of course, change their default should they choose to. But we believe that Internet Explorer is a really good browser, and we think it's going to make a fine default browser. Java. We are going to be collaborating with Microsoft on Java to ensure that we can get the best from each other and ensure that there's compatibility between our virtual machines. We think that will serve everybody's interests. And lastly, Microsoft is making an investment in Apple. Microsoft is buying $150 million worth of Apple stock at market price. It is non-voting shares. And they've agreed not to sell them for at least three years. So what this means is that Microsoft is going to be part of the game with us as we restore this company back to health, have a vested interest in that stock price going up. We're going to be working together on Microsoft Office, on Internet Explorer, on Java. And I think that it's going to lead to a very healthy relationship. So it's a package announcement today. We're very, very happy about it. We're very, very excited about it. And I happen to have a special guest with me today via satellite downlink. And if we could get him up on the stage right now...
Gates 的致詞：
Some of the most exciting work that I've done in my career has been the work that I've done with Steve on the Macintosh. Whether it's the first introduction or doing products like Mac Excel, these have been major milestones, and it's very exciting to renew our commitment to the Macintosh. We have over 8 million customers using Microsoft software on the Macintosh. We make it very easy for people who use Macintosh to take their, their documents and work with all kinds of machines. We're very excited about the new release we're building. This is called Mac Office 98. We do expect to get it out by the end of this year. And we've got some, some real exciting features. It's a product that's going to require no setup. It's going to be an easy transition from people in the past. And I think it's going to really set a new benchmark for doing a good job with performance, and exploiting unique Mac features. In many ways it's more advanced than what we've done on the Windows platform. We're also excited about Internet Explorer. And we've got a very dedicated team that's down in California that works on that product. And the code is really specially developed for the Macintosh. It's not just a port of what we've done in the Windows environment. And so we're pleased to be supporting Apple. We think Apple makes a huge contribution to the computer industry. We think it's going to be a lot of fun helping out, and we look forward to the feedback from all of you as we move forward doing more Macintosh software. Thanks.
Jobs 的回應與結語：
Thank you, Bill. You know, where we are right now, is we're shepherding some of the greatest assets in the computer industry. And if we want to move forward, and see Apple healthy and prospering again, we have to let go of a few things here. We have to let go of this notion that for Microsoft to win Apple has to lose. We have to embrace a notion that for Apple to win, Apple has to do a really good job. And if others are going to help us, that's great, because we need all the help we can get. And if we screw up and we don't do a good job, it's not somebody else's fault. It's our fault. So I think that's a very important perspective. I think if we want Microsoft Office on the Mac, we better treat the company that puts it out with a little bit of gratitude. We'd like their software. So the era of setting this up as a competition between Apple and Microsoft is over as far as I'm concerned. This is about getting Apple healthy, and this is about Apple being able to make incredibly great contributions to the industry, to get healthy and prosper again. The last perspective I'd like to leave with you on this is sometimes points of view can really make you look at things differently. Like for me, when I was looking at the statistics and it hit me that Apple is the largest education company in the world, that was like a bolt of lightning. That's huge. What an incredible base to build off of. Another bolt of lightning is that Apple plus Microsoft equals 100 percent of the desktop computer market. And so, whatever Apple and Microsoft agree to do, it's a standard. And I think that you'll see us work with Microsoft more because they're the only other player in the desktop industry and I think that you'll want to see Microsoft work with Apple more because Apple is the only other player in the desktop industry. So I hope we have even more cooperation in the future because the industry wants it.
Lastly, I want to just talk a little about Apple and the brand and what it means, I think, to a lot of us. You know, I think you always had to be a little different to buy an Apple computer. When we shipped the Apple II, you had to think different about computers. Computers were these things you saw in movies, they occupied giant rooms. They weren't these things you had on your desktop. You had to think differently because there wasn't any software at the beginning. You had to think differently when a first computer arrived at a school where there had never been one before and it was an Apple II. I think you had to think really differently when you bought a Mac. It was a totally different computer, worked in a totally different way, used a totally different part of your brain. And it opened up a computer world for a lot of people who thought differently. You were buying a computer with an installed base of one. You had to think differently to do that. And I think you still have to think differently to buy an Apple computer. And I think the people that do buy them do think differently and they are the creative spirits in this world. They are the people that are not just out to get a job done, they are out to change the world. And they're out to change the world using whatever great tools they can get. And we make tools for those kinds of people. So hopefully what you've seen here today are some beginning steps that give you some confidence that we, too, are going to think differently, and serve the people that have been buying our products since the beginning. Because a lot of times people think that they're crazy. But in that craziness, we see genius, and those are the people we're making tools for. Thank you very much.
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