Bill Gates weighs in on the origin of the Microsoft vs Apple debate

Hi, I’m a Mac.

Assuming you weren’t born last year, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Apple’s famous ad campaign. Running from 2006-2009, the campaign pit a “hip” Justin Long against an “uptight and nerdy” John Hodgman. Over that time Apple accomplished two things:

Confusing the entire world. A Mac is a PC.
Made Justin Long look cool. Well done.

You might also think this started the whole Mac vs PC debate. You’d be wrong.

Apple and Microsoft fanboys have been around for decades, and the debate over which is better starts with the origin of each company. Specifically, who copied whom when it came to delivering their respective operating systems.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Luckily, Bill Gates knows a thing or two. During his Reddit AMA, Gates did his part to put at least part of the debate to rest for good. When asked about copying, Gates was quick to point out that he and Steve Jobs both copied. But not from each other. From Xerox. Gates said:

The main ‘copying’ that went on relative to Steve and me is that we both benefited from the work that Xerox Parc did in creating graphical interface – it wasn’t just them but they did the best work. Steve hired Bob Belville, I hired Charles Simonyi. We didn’t violate any IP rights Xerox had but their work showed the way that led to the Mac and Windows.

There you have it, fanboys. If you’re still pissed about Apple/Microsoft copying the work of the other it’s time to put it to rest.

Xerox fans, it’s time to revolt.