June 25, 1985: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sends a memo to Apple execs suggesting that Cupertino should license its Mac operating system and additional technology to other companies
Apple CEO John Sculley and Macintosh boss Jean Louis Gassée ignore the advice of the 30-year-old Gates, who at the time is best known as a Mac developer. Five months later, Microsoft releases Windows 1.0.
Bill Gates’ advice to Apple
The fact that Gates sent such a memo to Sculley and Gassée seems amazing, considering the divergent paths that Microsoft and Apple took. Despite briefly entertaining the idea of licensing Mac OS, Apple stuck to its guns as a maker of both hardware and software. Gates, meanwhile, dominated the computer industry by making Windows the standard on almost every non-Apple PC.
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