Largely nothing. The investment at the time was seen as a public sign that Microsoft wanted Apple to stick around, not a make-or-break deal that could leave Ap

Largely nothing. The investment at the time was seen as a public sign that Microsoft wanted Apple to stick around, not a make-or-break deal that could leave Apple crippled if it fell through. That, plus the announcement that Microsoft would continue developing Office for Macintosh, helped assure the public that Apple wasn't going anywhere, at a time when a lot of people feared that Apple had become completely irrelevant, independent of whether Jobs would manage to succeed where Amelio had failed at fixing the immediate problems. I think Microsoft could have not invested and things would be the same. I'm less confident what would've happened if they hadn't pledged to support Office and IE.