Steve Jobs pledged ‘thermonuclear war’ with Android

The late Steve Jobs truly had it in for Google's Android operating system, saying he wanted to "destroy" the OS.

The Apple co-founder's biography, due out on Monday 24 October, has revealed how much Jobs hated Android, claiming it stole from iOS.

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs said, according to extracts seen by the Associated Press.

"I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

Jobs even held meetings with Google's chairman Eric Schmidt, who was CEO at the time, with the Apple man saying he was not concerned about a financial settlement.

I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product.

"I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want," Jobs was believed to have told Schmidt.

Apple has been fighting numerous lawsuits with Google, mainly fighting Android through the latter's OEM partners.

The iPhone creator is involved in a particularly fierce patent war with Samsung, which has seen a number of the South Korean's products banned in certain countries.

Ballmer bashing

Microsoft chief executive (CEO) Steve Ballmer has done hit bit of Android bashing this week as well, according to reports.

Ballmer said Android was too complicated and quipped people needed to be "computer scientists" to figure out how to work the Google OS.

"You don't need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows phone and you do to use and Android phone," the CEO said, talking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

"It is hard for me to be excited about the Android phones."

Earlier this year, Google claimed a "hostile, organised campaign" was being waged against Android by firms including Microsoft and Apple.

Google is involved in numerous court cases involving Android, the most significant being with Oracle over use of Java in the mobile operating system's code.

Oracle reportedly wants to put a total block on Android sales, not just royalties. It would be a massive hit to Google if Oracle wins the case, due to take place later this year.