The debate has always been there, even if it comes in many different names. "MacBook versus PC," "IOS versus Windows" and "Apple versus Microsoft" are just a few of the ways we name this particular feud that has lasted for at least 10 years. Both sides have had their ups and downs, but who actually "wins" this competition? Or is there even a way to "win?"
Microsoft originated in 1975, and Apple originated just a year afterward, in 1976. Surprisingly, there wasn't a ton of hot air between the two companies initially, like most would expect there to be. They actually worked together on the Macintosh, Apple's first computer. Microsoft was critical to several programs that would be on the Macintosh. There was even a promotional video with Bill Gates, the creator of Microsoft, for the Macintosh to advertise it.
Apple started to create more software, with graphical interfaces. This led to things between the two companies becoming the way we picture them: sour. With two new companies competing with each other for technological dominance in the 1980s, tensions began to rise. Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple, started to toss insults at Microsoft left and right. He stated that they had no creativity and were just innovating on old ideas instead of inventing new ones.
The public apparently didn't agree with Jobs though, since Windows 1.0 was released in 1985 and ultimately allowed Windows to build the road from a local company to software that was known throughout the world. At around the same time, Steve Jobs was booted from Apple, his own company. The balance of power shifted to Microsoft and Apple was dismantling. While Windows continued to release new software for computers, Apple struggled for 12 years until they brought Jobs back to the company. After so much bitterness towards Microsoft, Jobs finally decided that working together would be more beneficial than "destructive relationships." The public was, by now, well accustomed to the hatred between Microsoft and Apple and did not like this new development.
After being on better terms for a few years, Apple was nursed back to health from its valley in the late 1980s and early 1990s and started to accuse Microsoft of cheating yet again. Apple and Microsoft continued to develop their products, with Microsoft still holding the upper hand into the early 2000s.
Portable music systems held great value ever since the Walkman was released in the 1970s. Apple released the iPod in the early 2000s, and it quickly made a name for itself in the years after. It was easier to transport than the Walkman and had actual storage, not cassettes. Everyone had one of these until the next decade, and its importance carried into the next big Apple product, which was releasing in 2007.
However, now that both companies had made a name for themselves in the national market, the words of consumers started holding more and more importance. The two companies were essentially forced to race in creating the best technology in the least amount of time and "hating" the competition.
Finally, Apple introduced a groundbreaking product — the very first iPhone. This started a chain of items that almost everyone would have in their pockets in the next few years. It gave Apple the push it needed, and for once, the company skipped ahead of Microsoft Windows and introduced iOS, successful up to this very second. Ever since then, Apple and Microsoft have been consistently creating new interfaces and products, always taking public demand into account.
Of course, there were a few slip-ups. iOS 7 was initially rejected by some for changing the app designs to abstract images and completely changing the layout of everything in all the basic apps, and the iPhone 7 was rejected for not having a headphone jack. But Apple is known for making things simple and aesthetic and eventually, these products won Apple customers over.
Microsoft had released more Windows software-Windows ME (Millenium Edition) was actually released in a hurry to give customers something new, so it's said by some to have been poorly made. The biggest ever Windows flop released in 2007 and is known as the infamous "Windows Vista." The software was full of flaws and was also extremely slow in performance, but Microsoft released another software, Windows 7, and this brought them back from the mess caused by its precedent.
Whew, now that the history lesson (although a quite interesting history lesson) is over with...
Both companies have flaws, and they both have a rocky history with each other as well, but they both endured their worst mistakes and managed to survive to this day, with products known around the world. Some of their products are probably in your house today.
So who wins the competition? Microsoft had pretty steady successes compared to Apple, but Apple made a huge comeback in the late 2000s to emerge on top of Microsoft and several other companies. The answer is whoever you, as the consumer, think is better. It sounds cheesy, but it's true: each company has something unique about it that people like to see in their technology. There's no doubt that this debate will go on as long as these two companies exist.
After all, companies started in garages by college dropouts have a knack for getting the public's attention.
