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The Beginnings of Apple Computer
John Burek points out an article written by Stan Veit, former editor-in-chief of Computer Shopper magazine, and one of the first retailers to deal with the fledgling Apple Computer in the late 1970s. Veit describes his introduction to the Apple I and his early interactions with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as they developed their early models. Quoting:
"After Woz hooked his haywire rig up to the living-room TV, he turned it on, and there on the screen I saw a crude Breakout game in full color! Now I was really amazed. This was much better than the crude color graphics from the Cromemco Dazzler. ... 'How do you like that?' said Jobs, smiling. 'We're going to dump the Apple I and only work on the Apple II.' 'Steve,' I said, 'if you do that you will never sell another computer. You promised BASIC for the Apple I, and most dealers haven't sold the boards they bought from you. If you come out with an improved Model II they will be stuck. Put it on the back burner until you deliver on your promises.'"
You left off a significant detail. Allen overheard Gates and Balmer scheming to re-capture the portion of the company that he owned if Allen were to die.
From the link in your post:
Small and mid-sized companies with large non-involved owners who inherit stock are poorly structured. Any founders with a little experience or a little forethought set up buy-sell agreements for exactly this eventuality. Sounds like they didn't have the forethought to set it up at the time of the founding. And so they were working on how to deal with the reality that one of their largest shareholders was facing the real possibility of death.
Bill Gates has done some awful things, but I don't think this is one of them.