This is incredible to anyone that has followed Apple since the beginning :

Apple passes Microsoft's stock market cap ...
Apple passed a symbolic milestone today as its market cap passed Microsoft's for the first time. Beginning in the morning, the total value of Apple's shares was higher, reaching $225.7 billion at 3PM Wednesday afternoon where Microsoft had dropped to $223.4 billion. The two companies' share prices have headed in opposite directions since the year began, with Apple growing more than 17 percent while Microsoft's has dropped by an almost identical ratio

[From MacNN | Apple, iPod, Mac news @ The Macintosh News Network]