June 16, 2005: Michael Dell Says He Would Be Happy to License OS X

Everyone knows the big bad trio in Macland: Microsoft, Dell, and Intel. Well, scratch Intel. Still, the Dell name certainly evokes a large amount of loathing from diehard Mac fans. On the other hand, Michael Dell knows a good thing when he sees it and his company is all about selling computers without regard to the software.

Many Mac users were shocked when Michael Dell, who had previously said Apple should give the money back to the shareholders, opined that he'd like to sell computers with OS X installed. They shouldn't have been. Dell, for years, wanted to get out from under the thumb of Microsoft, going so far as to offer to bundle NeXT software on their computers if only NeXT would stop producing hardware. Steve Jobs declined and ironically, NeXT later went software only).

Michael Dell's OS X yearnings were made public on June 14, 2005 in an issue of Fortune.