Bill Gates seems to be having a grand time in Australia, where he planes in last week to get a feel of the holiday season down under.

Media reports have so far indicated that Gates, who brought along wife Melinda and their kids, intends to stay at least for a month, most of which would assumingly be spent on private trips across the country.

While the tech mogul took pains in ensuring that his arrival would not turn into a media fanfare, Gates allowed for time to hobnob with some of Australia's known personalities, provided a bit of specs on what lies for him ahead and offered glimpses of his take on the country's policies.

Yet for all the stories generated when Gates is around, the most natural topic to spring out is his love-hate relationship with departed Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs: A Love-Hate Relationship

The two figures dominated the tech world for decades, with Gates founding an empire that delivered Windows to hundreds of millions on personal computers around the world that earned him a spot as the second richest man in the world.

Jobs, on the other hand, engineered electronic products that became household names, gave him sufficient wealth that allows a lifestyle as he pleases and convinced many to enshrine him, at the time of his death, as among the greatest of American inventors, joining the league of Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin.

And the Apple co-founder did not mince words when he talked about Gates and Microsoft, which the latter founded with Paul Allen.

Jobs said that Gates' creation of the billion-selling Microsoft products was anchored on tasteless architecture while the software giant itself has been trapped in an unimaginative culture.

Gates merely brushed aside such scathing remarks and suggested that Jobs was just expressing his views. He added that the tech icon was a collaborator in the early days of Silicon Valley.

In an interview with Sydney Morning Herald, Gates offered that Jobs loved tackling him "because the Microsoft machines outsold his machines by a lot, he was always kind of tough on Microsoft, but that's fine, he was a brilliant person."

While the two high-profile personalities shared unparalleled spirit of competitiveness, with tales of their legendary corporate style and tempers occasionally shared by colleagues, many conceded that Gates had outpaced Jobs when it comes to charity.

Years after he sidelined himself from day-to-day Microsoft duties, Gates declared that he intends to give away most of the $58 billion he had amassed to charitable endeavours and research works that improve lives and hopefully eradicate global poverty.

On his part, Jobs was never considered as exactly generous and one of his notable acts as Apple CEO was the elimination of the company's charity division. It was also unclear if Jobs was a silent supporter of charitable groups nor if parts of his estate were dedicated to philanthropic works.

But Gates is not taking away any credit from a person he considers a friend as his focus is centered on sharing as much as he can and encouraging others, with similar capability, to also expand the reaches of their enormous wealth.

Chance Encounter with Andrew Forrest

The billionaire admitted that he had an encounter with Australian mining mogul Andrew Forrest last week and remembered the man most for his "enthusiasm and energy."

"He's thinking about how he wants to give money away," Gates told SMH about Forrest's own philanthropic leanings.

Gates also confirmed that the corporate world is now beyond him, quashing suggestions that he might return to Microsoft's helm soon.

He clarified though that he's always available to share his inputs to the software giant but for now his full energy is arrayed on the foundation he founded with his wife.

"That will be what I do with the rest of my life," Gates said.