> His mother served on the same board of directors as the IBM CEO. Which is probably why the original licensing deal was even considered and why the they where

> His mother served on the same board of directors as the IBM CEO. Which is probably why the original licensing deal was even considered and why the they where not heavy handed in their contract negotiation The first is probably true, I agree atleast. Your second point about them not being heavy handed because they knew Bill's mother I just can't see having any shred of truth. IBM also made a sweetheart deal with Intel with no mother's involved. The reason they made those deals has been stated many times over. IBM was in a huge rush to ship and they needed an OS and CPU in a very bad way. They made those deals because that's what allowed them to ship.