Steve Jobs would have literally done anything to save Apple, you only need to watch the 1997 Macworld Expo to see how far he was willing to go. Those people absolutely hated Gates and you can guarantee you would have seen Michael Dell on that stage if it had gone the other way.
With that said Mac Clones were a thing, Jobs even tried to keep those deals going but they did not make sense at the time. Apple for all its worth was both a hardware and software company and the clone makers would have been competition anyways.
Based on the terms discussed, and that wikipedia says the licensed clones were ended because of unfavorable terms for Apple, I'm getting the impression that Jobs was trying to find a bigger partner and also make the deal work well for Apple, but was more interested in a good deal for Apple than a sustainable partnership for both companies. This deal didn't happen, and the licensed clone program was ended, and Apple returned to being the only maker of machines running Mac OS, which mostly worked out for them.