Microsoft founder head Bill Gates has banned the use of products made by arch-rival Apple from his house, his wife has revealed.

But the blockade could backfire on Gates, 53, after Melinda admitted there are times she feels envious of her friends' iPhones.

She told Vogue magazine that the couple's three children Jennifer, 13, Rory, 10 and Phoebe, seven, are not allowed Apple products.

'There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household,' she said.

'But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids.'

Like any forbidden fruit, however, Mrs Gates, 44, admitted that some Apple products do have the power to tempt her.

'Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone,' she admitted.

For many years, Microsoft had a monopoly on the technology market.

But over the last decade, the popularity of new Apple products such as the iPod and the iPhone as well as their computers, has promoted the company to chief rival.

There have been rumours of animosity between Gates and Apple founder Steve Jobs but the pair have made public efforts to appear friends.

The Gates live in a vast mansion on the shores of Lake Washington and are very protective of the privacy of their children.

Gates stepped down as chief executive of Microsoft to concentrate on charity the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the world's biggest philanthropic organisation.

Apple's Steve Jobs, meanwhile, has been forced to take sick leave because of health problems.

Source : DailyMail