Kevin Turner

The ongoing rivalry between Apple and Microsoft took an odd twist today as Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner took a swipe at Apple's new iPhone 4 by comparing its recent problems to the much-maligned Vista operating system.

"It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I'm okay with that," Turner reportedly said at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C. The comments come after Apple has received criticism -- including a negative review in Consumer Reports -- over a faulty antenna in the new iPhone 4 which causes reception problems.

Released in early 2007, Windows Vista has been routinely discussed as colossal failure for Microsoft. Now, whether the iPhone 4 antenna issues -- which could be corrected when users attach a protective case to the device - rise to that level of high-tech failure remains to be seen.

But Turner, at least for now, is having some fun with the problems at Apple.

"One of the things I want to make sure you know today is that you're going to be able to use a Windows Phone 7 and not have to worry about how you're holding it to make a phone call," Turner said, according to a report in Computerworld.