Steve Jobs Asked Dell to Pre-Install Mac OS on PCs and Pay Hundreds of Millions in Royalties

[MacRumors]

The 10 year anniversary of Steve Jobs death took place earlier this week, sparking tech leaders to share their stories of Apple's former CEO.

Dell CEO Michael Dell spoke to CNET, reminiscing about the time that Steve Jobs aimed to get Dell to license Mac OS to run on Intel-based PCs and how that might have changed the PC industry.

As the story goes, Jobs first approached Dell about a partnership after being ousted from Apple and establishing NeXT. Jobs wanted Dell to use the NeXT operating system on Dell PCs, and he claimed that it was better than Windows.

Dell told Jobs that it wasn't going to happen because there were no applications for it and "zero customer interest."

After Jobs rejoined Apple, he once again attempted a software licensing deal, trying to get Dell to license Mac OS. At the time, Jobs pushed Dell by telling him PC buyers could choose between Apple's software or Microsoft Windows.

"He said, look at this - we've got this Dell desktop and it's running Mac OS," Dell tells me. "Why don't you license the Mac OS?"

Dell thought it was a good idea and wanted to pay Jobs a licensing fee for every PC sold with Mac OS, but Jobs was worried about PC sales cannibalizing Mac sales because PCs were cheaper. Jobs instead wanted Dell to load Mac OS alongside Windows on every PC, which would have cost Dell hundreds of millions in royalties.

Dell smiles when he tells the story. "The royalty he was talking about would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, and the math just didn't work, because most of our customers, especially larger business customers, didn't really want the Mac operating system," he writes. "Steve's proposal would have been interesting if it was just us saying, "OK, we'll pay you every time we use the Mac OS" - but to pay him for every time we didn't use it ... well, nice try, Steve!"

The royalty cost dissuaded Dell from the deal, as did the lack of a guarantee that Dell would continue to have access to Mac OS years in the future. Dell customers could be out of luck as the software evolved, with no way for Dell to offer support.

Dell said that had that deal gone through, "It could have changed the trajectory for Windows and Mac OS on PCs." In a 2005 interview, Dell said that if Apple "opened the Mac OS to others" Dell would be happy to offer it to customers, but that did not happen and Apple kept Mac OS exclusive to Macs.

Though a software deal was never reached, Dell said that he remained friends with Jobs over the years despite various arguments. Dell one time was asked what he'd do to fix Apple if he was CEO, and he said "I'd shut the company down and give money back to shareholders," which angered Jobs.

Jobs ultimately used the quote from Dell to motivate his team, which Dell respected. "I probably would've done much the same thing if I was in his position," Dell told CNET. "When the company you started is fighting for its life, you do whatever it takes."

Michael Dell's story about Mac OS X is featured in his newly published memoir, "Play Nice But Win," which also features stories of how he met Jobs, his infatuation with the Apple II, and how he developed a friendship with Jobs.

Article Link: Steve Jobs Asked Dell to Pre-Install Mac OS on PCs and Pay Hundreds of Millions in Royalties

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

The mastermind was working on big things. Steve was doing whatever it takes to make it right for the business and the consumers.

IBM you should have taken the offer.

 

[Freeangel1]

YES!!
DO IT NOW!!
Mac Hardware SUCKS!! So many faulty and burned out video cards over the last 20 years.

I saw the future in Intel Chips.

The 12th generation Intel Chips are going to WASTE APPLE silicon.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Sometimes Jobs was the brilliant ideas and marketing man that we all know brought us the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Other times, he was the absolute idiot who tried to stop third parties from developing for the iPhone, said people would never buy an E reader because people just don’t like reading, tried to call the original iMac the MacMan… and did this

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Sometimes Jobs was the brilliant ideas and marketing man that we all know brought us the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Other times, he was the absolute idiot who tried to stop third parties from developing for the iPhone, said people would never buy an E reader because people just don’t like reading, tried to call the original iMac the MacMan… and did this

He was trying to save Apple and establish the business model. He did whatever it took. That’s how business is.

Jokes on Dell today!

 

[_Spinn_]

Things would have turned out very differently if this had actually gone through.

 

[djcerla]

Things would have turned out very differently if this had actually gone through.

Yup, probably Apple’s undoing.

 

[LawJolla]

And Dell computers would be out of business if Michael didn't take it private.

Good for him.

 

[erikkfi]

This story makes no sense when you consider Jobs' war on third-party Mac manufacturers, which he took up pretty much immediately upon becoming interim CEO. In fact, because Apple had existing deals to license any version of MacOS 7.x to those manufacturers, Jobs insisted that MacOS 7.7 become MacOS 8 so that they could kill all the licensing. Michael Dell has always been a grifter. Don't believe him.

 

[TSE]

Michael Dell actually seems like a good, smart dude. He also is a self-made entrepreneur and is always business-first - and this has come at the expense of quality for Dell Computers. Can't wait to move past my Dell XPS and get a MacBook Pro this fall.

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

"The math didn't work" put all your eggs in one basket has always been a great strategy..

 

[sunny5]

YES!!
DO IT NOW!!
Mac Hardware SUCKS!! So many faulty and burned out video cards over the last 20 years.

I saw the future in Intel Chips.

The 12th generation Intel Chips are going to WASTE APPLE silicon.

Well, we'll see. Because even now, nobody is able to make a chip to compete with M1 from both x86 and ARM.

 

[ilikewhey]

He was trying to save Apple and establish the business model. He did whatever it took. That’s how business is.

Jokes on Dell…

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i don't see how this is a joke on dell, mac users is still a minority in total marketshares and even more so back then. a good amount of dell clients are enterprise, and enterprise simply do not use mac since their software are not osx compatible. dell would be foolish to pay out royalties on something that would have very little return on investment for them.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

i don't see how this is a joke on dell, mac users is still a minority in total marketshares and even more so back then. a good amount of dell clients are enterprise, and enterprise simply do not use mac since their software are not osx compatible. dell would be foolish to pay out royalties on something that would have very little return on investment for them.

You may have missed this article. Wait till M1X Mac’s are unleashed. Sales Surging big time!!!

Apple's Mac and iPad Sales Continue to Surge in Q3 2021

Macs and iPads are selling in record numbers as people continue to work and learn from home. According to Apple's latest earnings report for the...

www.macrumors.com

 

[johnsc3]

Funny, referencing Dell’s quote about returning money back to the share holders, I remember the very day reading Steve’s email when Apple passed Dell in market cap.

 

[Jeaz]

For disclosure, I work at Dell.

While I'd never use Windows for personal use, and thus a Dell computer, I do like Dell as a company and Michael Dell. He's not the innovator or exotic personality as some of the other "big names in IT", and while I have only met him in passing, he does seem like a nice guy.

 

[Asarien]

He was trying to save Apple and establish the business model. He did whatever it took. That’s how business is.

Jokes on Dell…

That's what's wrong with mentality like yours. I don't know Michael Dell, and his business isn't nearly as rich as Apple, but he seems like a genuine person who is happy with his level of success. I'd rather be successful and happy, than be tortured and "misunderstood" for the sake of being branded a genius, and to win at all costs.

In the end, Job's lack of humility did him in, and how truly happy was he when he died?

 

[Bytor65]

" but to pay him for every time we didn't use it ... well, nice try, Steve!"

Why not? It worked for Microsoft.

Not kidding. This was a bargain Microsoft drove with OEMs back in the Early 90's for the Windows OS. It came out during their Anti-Trust trial.

 

[Kabeyun]

Interesting story! I wonder why Jobs repeatedly picked Dell to propose partnerships like that. Maybe it was simply collegiality w Michael Dell.

Also interesting are the current market caps:
DELL - $81B
AAPL - $2.3T (trillion…with a T)

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

That's what's wrong with mentality like yours. I don't know Michael Dell, and his business isn't nearly as rich as Apple, but he seems like a genuine person who is happy with his level of success. I'd rather be successful and happy, than be tortured and "misunderstood" for the sake of being branded a genius, and to win at all costs.

In the end, Job's lack of humility did him in, and how truly happy was he when he died?

Never said Michael Dell is not a nice guy. I believe he’s a very genuine person. I was talking about Dell overall in general as a company. I’m pretty sure it was a company wide decision.

 

[vipergts2207]

He was trying to save Apple and establish the business model. He did whatever it took. That’s how business is.

Jokes on Dell…

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You misunderstand what the quote you posted is trying to say. Michael Dell's personal holdings in Dell is worth $40 billion. He's the 23rd wealthiest person in the world. Just for comparison, Jobs was worth only $10 billion when he died and Cook (though not an entrepreneur) is only worth $1.4 billion.

 

[4jasontv]

Interesting story! I wonder why Jobs repeatedly picked Dell to propose partnerships like that. Maybe it was simply collegiality w Michael Dell.

Also interesting are the current market caps:
DELL - $81B
AAPL - $2.3T (trillion…with a T)

Or maybe it didn't happen quite the way it's being retold.

 

[now i see it]

This story doesn’t seem to add up.
The 2nd thing SJ did when returning back to Apple (after first firing most of the existing executives) was killing off all the clones. His quote, “they’re all bloodsuckers”.

This Dell story doesn’t seem to jive with history at all

 

[djphat2000]

I'm willing to believe that SJ approached Dell when they had a full intel version of Mac OS X running without issue.
I also believe that Dell wanted to insure that Mac OS X would endure beyond a few years. With full support coming from Apple like clock work. That is where Dell shines. The support is EXCELLENT. At least in the enterprise areas. So, if SJ wanted a well known PC company to produce business class workstations/desktops/laptops etc. Then Dell would need to know Apple would fully support the OS on not just Apple hardware. It had to be equally as well with Dell.

If I had been in on that conversation. I would have suggested that Dell build PC's specific to Mac OS X. As commodity as they do regular PC's, but with a design language different from their other PC's. Not as high end as Apples to provide some differentiation. No All in Ones al la iMac. And then add both Windows and Mac OS X on them as a separate product. So you wouldn't have to put it on ALL Dell computers (mac os and Windows OS). Just a specific line, say Dell X series or whatever. This line up of Servers (while that lasted), Workstations, Desktops, and Laptops. With Dell Enterprise branding and full support across that product line. Companies that have big marketing departments or AD agencies that have a mix of Mac and Windows users. This would have sold well with them. It would take away from Apple's sales of course. But a license is still a sale. Microsoft is still a $2T company without selling Surface crap (most of it is crap). The Watch and the Pad, plus of course iPhones would still drive most of the companies profits as they do today. They don't sell as much Mac's as Dell does PC's. Let alone servers.

Plus, Apple doesn't cater to the enterprise business anywhere near as well as Dell. Let them handle support, let them "sell" it to their customers. "Hey, need a PC refresh, GREAT. Oh you have Mac users. No problem, we can give you great PC that runs Mac OS X fully supported by us. And if you need to repurpose that PC, No Problem. You can just boot Windows on there too, and yes we fully support it!". I work in IT, and we purchase Dell PC's, laptops and servers. This would have been a no brainer for folks like me. I use a Mac at home and work. Our marketing dept uses Mac's. But, the execs don't want to pay for a Mac. This solves that problem.

 

[grilledcheesesandwich]

He was trying to save Apple and establish the business model. He did whatever it took. That’s how business is.

Jokes on Dell today!

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I mean, Dell remains alive & well...