In August Apple accepted $150 million from Microsoft with one hand, and in September it threw away $100 million with the other.

Two years before the unholy Microsoft alliance, Apple had decided to license the Macintosh operating system to outside vendors. Deals were inked with Motorola, IBM and Power Computing with the hope of starting a new industry that would rival that of the PC clone.

The move seemed to be Apple's best strategy in ages, but it backfired. The clone companies, it turned out, were stealing the market right off of Apple's desktop.

So in September, Apple refused to extend the license on its operating system and paid $100 million to take over the most successful Mac clone manufacturer, Power Computing Corp.

Perhaps those bargains were too good to be true after all.

 1. Push
 2. Windows CE
 3. 56K
 4. Cable Modem
 5. Web-TV
 6. Net Magazines
 7. Apple's Demise
 8. Mac Clones
 9. E-Cash
10. Comdex '96

 1. Dynamic HTML
 2. New Domains
 3. Metered Bandwidth
 4. Web-TV
 5. Rich Ads
 6. The Big Chill
 7. Middlemen
 8. Digital Detente
 9. Cybercommerce
10. Web standards