Day before yesterday, it was Steve from Apple and today it was Steve from Microsoft answering Walt Mossberg’s questions at the D8 Conference.  Steve Ballmer talked about Apple, Google, Mobile phones, cloud computing and even antitrust. Here are some of the highlights from his interview with Walt Mossberg:

On Apple and iPad: Ballmer says Microsoft and Apple will eventually run into each other in the market. He also questioned – “is the iPad really that different from PC? No, it’s just a different form factor.” He then added “The Mac’s got minimal market share; iPad’s got a surge of momentum. The race is on.”

On Google: Talking about Google’s Chrome OS and Android, Ballmer said, “I don’t really understand why Google has to have two different operating systems.” He further added, “Why do two? Why not focus on one? Having two OS’s is confusing. You need coherence.”

About Cloud Computing: Ballmer believes that desktop will be important. Even when the world is driven from the cloud out, it will be smart cloud talking to smart devices and apps that are controlled locally.

Finally Mobile Phones: Steve said, “We were ahead of this game and now we find ourselves No.5 in the market. We missed a whole cycle.”  Steve then added “But this is a very dynamic business; the market leaders here have shifted over twice in the past few years, and that’s an opportunity for us.”