Microsoft flags worldwide fly at half mast for Jobs

As a tribute to the late Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, Microsoft is flying flags at its offices worldwide at half-mast. Stephen Rose, worldwide community and social media manager for the Windows team, said the flags are to fly at half-mast Thursday and Friday. "All the flags on all Microsoft campuses worldwide are at half mast today and tomorrow for Steve Jobs," he said in his Twitter account. Microsoft and Apple have been rivals in the computer world, with Microsoft's Windows operating system going up against Apple's Mac OS X. While Microsoft has sold more copies of Windows than Apple sold Mac OS X, Apple is faring better in the mobile arena, selling more iPhones than Microsoft can sell phones running its Windows Phone 7. An article on PCWorld noted that while the two companies were often bitter rivals, Jobs and Microsoft head Bill Gates were also friends. On Thursday, Gates had described Jobs as a colleague, competitor and friend "over the course of more than half our lives." "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely," Gates had said. — TJD, GMA News