Nearly six years have passed since Microsoft agreed to invest US$150 million in Apple Computer and continue developing Mac versions of its Office application suite for at least five years. In the intervening period, both companies have experienced many changes. Apple has transformed from a moribund entity whose doom was foretold by countless pundits into an innovative niche player -- the high-tech equivalent of a luxury carmaker. And Microsoft has weathered several years of antitrust litigation, maintaining its operating system and business application hegemony while simultaneously evolving into a dominant player in the nascent Web services space.
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