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The D: All Things Digital conference taking place next week will bring together the two most iconic figures in US technology: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. The buzz around the forthcoming 75-minute session featuring Jobs and Gates at the D Conference has been palpable. MarketWatch and others have been agog over the upcoming milestone in computing history.

It's instructive to remember the last time these two tech giants shared a stage. It was 1997, with Jobs physically on-stage at a MacWorld conference in Boston. Apple was having money troubles, and Microsoft needed to get antitrust regulators off its back.

Gates appeared on a big screen behind jobs via a remote link. The Apple faithful in attendance erupted in boos. To them, and much of the computing world, having Gates involved in Apple was akin to Satan offering Eve a snack in the Garden of Eden, with equally dramatic repercussions.

Microsoft made a $150 million investment in Apple, and to this day is the biggest developer of Apple software outside of 1 Infinite Loop. Apple's resurgence under Jobs has the company flying high with the public and investors.

Jobs and Gates will be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, in what should be one of the most compelling moments in tech we are likely to see this year.