Steve Jobs Death Honored and Mourned by Tech World [PHOTOS]

When KFC founder and fast food pioneer Harland Colonel Sanders died in 1980, the fast food world mourned and competitor Wendy's ordered all the flags at its restaurants to be flown at half-staff.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' death in 2011 is been treated the same way by the tech world, including by companies who are Apple's direct competitors.

Microsoft, which beat out Apple in the personal computers market and is trying to catch up to Apple in the smartphone market, linked to the following statement from CEO Steve Ballmer on the frontage of www.microsoft.com.

I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work.

Google, enmeshed in a nasty business and legal battle with Apple over the smartphone market, printed Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011 on the bottom of its iconic Google logo and linked to the www.apple.com tribute of Steve Jobs.

I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve... He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google's are with his family and the whole Apple family, wrote Google CEO Larry Page on his Google+ page.

eBay linked to comments on Jobs' death from founder Pierre Omidyar and current CEO John Donahoe.

Steve understood the power of technology to enrich our lives in simple, elegant ways. His impact on consumers all over the world is apparent wherever one goes. Without a doubt we have lost the greatest innovator of our time, said Donahoe.

Below is the Jobs tribute from www.apple.com.