The face-off between Apple and Microsoft (although essentially a disproportionate race between a software-centric company and a hardware-focused outfit) is much more than a constant comparison of products, market share, audience size, adoption pace, revenue, profit, etc. It has in fact transitioned to the two key figures of both companies. Apple Chief Executive Office Steve Jobs and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates have ended up at the opposite sides of the IT world spectrum because of their approach to technology.

Believed by some to portray the PC guy in Apple's popular Get a Mac video ads, Gates is the adept of a pragmatic technology, his name being synonymous with Windows and personal computers. At the same time, Jobs (having the Mac guy as alter ego) has placed Apple as a top landmark of combining technology with the evolution of industrial design in the hardware landscape. And while emphasizing the differences between the two figures, some forget that the two started along together.

Back in 1977, Microsoft was supplying a supersede of Integer BASIC for the Apple II computer. It was called Applesoft BASIC, but it is usually referred to as just Applesoft. Such a collaboration between the two companies was never reached again, although Microsoft does produce software for Mac OS X (Office 2008 for Mac) and Apple for Windows Safari, iTunes. The Cupertino-based hardware company does probably come close with Boot Camp, enabling the installation of 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista on Intel Mac computers.

In the light of Gates' imminent retirement in mid 2008, Jobs revealed to the New York Times that he is prepared to celebrate the Microsoft co-founder. "Bill's retiring from Microsoft is a big deal. It's a significant event, and I think he should be honored for the contributions he's made," Jobs stated. By the summer of this year, Gates would have completed his two year transition out of his day-to-day role with Microsoft, leaving Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect and Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer in his place.