Bill grill

Bill Gates usually gets off lightly in interviews, with few journalists ever managing to ruffle his feathers on topics such as his company's dominance and the barrage of court cases he has faced.

And while German magazine Spiegel doesn't exactly land a killer blow on Mr Microsoft, at least the interviewer holds off on the scraping-bow deference so common in such cosy chats. He also interjects a couple of pointed questions.

My favourite excerpt:

GATES: The truth is: the fewer operating systems there are within a company, the better it is from a security point of view.

SPIEGEL: I beg your pardon?