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Gates was speaking at an Institute of Directors (IoD) lunch entitled "An Audience with Bill Gates" where he talked about future trends in the industry.

During the event, Microsoft came under verbal attack from the chief information officer of a law firm who argued that while he had the freedom to fire

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and re-engage other suppliers when they changed their terms and conditions, he felt he had no choice but to stick with Microsoft due to a lack of competition.

"I'd like to see the terms and conditions you have with IBM... We could match those right away," Gates quipped back before embarking on a more serious defence.

"People do have lots of choice in these things. [You can] choose to use older versions, choose to use alternative things. There is a tonne of stuff out there. [In the business space there's] IBM, Oracle, lots and lots of companies. [Competition] is there, it just doesn't get covered as much."

Turning the spotlight away from the negativity of perceived lack of competition, he added: "People should wish other parts of commerce were as competitive and innovative as the software space. Just think what food would cost and the advances you would have experienced."