Speaking to Charlie Rose on Monday's Rose's PBS show, Gates focused mainly on the charity work of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but also touched on some technology--related topics including the arrival of Microsoft's new tablet, the Surface.

During , Gates expressed his enthusiasm about the Surface, . He said that when he founded the company, his goal with Microsoft had been to deliver "the magic of software to people both in their work and in their home."

Rose asked whether, reflecting on the way his company has delivered products to consumers, he would have done things differently, more like "the way Steve Jobs did."

Gates explained that working with third-party hardware manufacturers such as Dell and HP worked well, and Microsoft's decision to create its own tablet to run its own software doesn't mean the end of such partnerships. "I actually believe you can have the best of both worlds," he said. "You can have a rich ecosystem of manufacturers and you can have a few signature devices that show off, you know, wow, what's the difference between a tablet and a PC."

He described the Surface as having a new "exciting" form factor. "You don't have to make a compromise. You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you like about a PC all in one device. And so that should change the way people look at things."