Of course, Apple and Microsoft have worked together for years, but that has never stopped the Mac vs PC debates. Microsoft Office has always been available for the Mac, and several years ago Microsoft pumped US $150m into Apple to help it stay in business.

So while Jobs and Gates are ‘enemies’ fighting operating system, digital media player, home entertainment and even telecommunications battles, it’s very intriguing to discover they’ll be talking about the future of the very battles they are fighting in what is promised to be an unscripted event.

Will either take the opportunity to make a major surprise announcement that could shift the direction of the digital revolution and throw the other off guard? Will they spar on who will ultimately win control of not only providing the home entertainment solution of the future, but whose infrastructure and software will be managing our digital homes? Will they discuss user interface designs of the future to truly computers into the next generation, instead of simply a shinier version of what was available before?

Gates believes in and often mentions the magic of software, with Microsoft saying that the Xbox platform and the Zune platform are really designed to deliver Microsoft’s software to consumers. Apple’s Macs, iPods, the iPhone and the AppleTV can be said to be doing exactly the same thing. Apple’s iPhone is said to be a revolution that’s 5 years ahead of the rest – what secret revolution does Microsoft have up its sleeve beyond Vista?

Joining them in the conversation will be D co-producers and well known WSJ technology journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, so it’s bound to be an exciting event.

Steve Jobs will also host his own session during the conference, where Jobs is slated to talk about the iPhone and the AppleTV. Previously, Jobs announced a podcasting feature for iTunes at an earlier ‘D’ conference, setting a precedent for something special.

For Microsoft, Steve Ballmer will appear in his own segment, to discuss Windows, Office, the Xbox, Zune, and other topics.

But if you thought that was all, this conference has plenty more to offer. The cream of the digerati crop will also attend and present, making it a showcase event that will grab all of the attention. Confirmed speakers include Google CEO Eric Schmidt; CBS President Les Moonves; Cisco CEO John Chambers; film director George Lucas; online pioneer Steve Case; Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore; News Corp. President Peter Chernin; Palm founder Jeff Hawkins; and Steve Chen and Chad Hurley of YouTube.

Videos of sessions will be made available to the public, with past D videos already available at www.allthingsd.com. As the conference is already sold out at US $3,995 a ticket, visitng the D website is the only way most people will have access, with the new version of the D site due to come online soon.

Well, it looks like it’ll be the most powerful digital conference of the year, with some fascinating discussions and prognostications into the future set to emerge. Let’s hope it lives up to the hype!
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