What follows, after the necessary introductions, are direct quotes from Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in last week’s Newsweek interview and the recently released “Thoughts on Music“, respectively. I admit a slight bias may have come up during editing.

Steve: Hello, I’m a Mac.

Bill: And I’m a PC.

Steve: There are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands.

Bill: I don’t think the over 90 percent of the population who use Windows PCs think of themselves as dullards.

Steve: Music purchased from Microsoft’s Zune store will only play on Zune players.

Bill: There’s tons of people who help make those decisions, so I wouldn’t overstate my role in the past… I don’t know why Apple is acting like it’s superior.

Steve: Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats… This is clearly the best alternative for consumers.

Bill: That’s for my customers to decide.

Steve: Any company trying to protect content using a DRM must frequently update it with new and harder to discover secrets.

Bill: It’s totally according to plan, and that’s why we have the whole Windows Update thing.

Steve: Microsoft’s recent decision to switch their emphasis from an “open” model of licensing their DRM to others to a “closed” model of offering—

Bill: If you just want to say, “Steve Jobs invented the world, and then the rest of us came along,” that’s fine.

Steve: Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.