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Meanwhile, Mr Jobs, 52, looked set to take an early lead in the sentimentality stakes: "When Bill and I started we were the youngest guys in the room," he said. "Now I'm the oldest guy in the room."

Next he quoted The Beatles: "You and I have memories longer than the road ahead."

"Everyone awwwws," added Engadget in its coverage.

There was also some gushing from Mr Gates, 51: "What Steve’s done is quite phenomenal. He has incredible taste and elegance. His ability to always come around and figure out where that next bet should be has been phenomenal."

And some large reciprocation from Mr Jobs: "The world is a better place because Bill’s goal isn’t to be the richest guy in the cemetery," he said - referring to how the world's richest man has chosen to be the biggest philanthropist.

But, as Mercury News noted, Mr Jobs "well-known for taking pot-shots at his company's bigger rival ... didn't disappoint".

Apple's iTunes software - the group's online music store - is one of the most popular applications on Microsoft Windows-powered PCs, the Apple boss suggested.

"It's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell," he said.

And those Apple ads did figure, with Mr Jobs trying to convince Mr Gates that his company didn't aim to be mean by depicting "PC" as a hapless, uptight loser, in contrast to the cool, easy going "Mac", in a popular series of adverts.

"The art of those commercials ... is for those guys to like each other," Mr Jobs said. "The PC guy is what makes it all work, actually. It's worth thinking about."

"Needless to say, Gates didn't appear to be convinced," the Mercury site said.

Though the Micosoft founder did add: "The PC guy’s mother loves him."

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