The way most Mac users feel about the 'other' operating system is very common knowledge. Despite the fact that Microsoft and Apple have worked together over the years, this has done little to nothing to alleviate the opinion Mac users have about Windows. But when it comes to hardware, things are even more cut and dry.

It all started back on October 6, 1997, when Michael Dell, Dell founder and then CEO, stated his solution to the situation Apple was in front of several thousand information technology managers: "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

This was not taken lightly by Apple and by their customers, and less than a month later, on November 10, 1997, Steve Jobs spoke in front of an image of Michael Dell under a big bulls-eye and stated: "We're coming after you, you're in our sights."

On Friday the 13th, a most appropriate day, of January 2006, Apple Computer's market value surpassed that of Dell, Inc. To mark the occasion, Steve Jobs sent a short e-mail to Apple employees.

"Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve"

Many things have changed over the eight years it took Apple to reach this point, and although revenge is a dish best served cold, it might still be a while before Apple's users eat their fill. Back on the Dell side of the story, things have also changed, and last year Mr. Dell stated that he would consider putting Apple's operating system on Dell machines if Apple ever decides to sell it separately from the hardware. Of course, this has not happened, but that did not stop Dell from doing the next best thing and that is using a very Mac OS X look-alike desktop in all promotional images of their computers.

Regardless of the desktop look-alike, a dull... err, I mean Dell box is still no Mac. It appears that while some things change, others do not…