Gates and Jobs Have a Friendly Chat LEGENDARY technology rivals Bill Gates and Steve Jobs made a rare joint appearance and wasted no time being nice at a chat at Wall Street Journal’s "D: All Things Digital" conference last Wednesday. "Bill built the first software company in the industry," said Jobs, co-founder of the US’s Apple Inc." Bill focused on software before anyone." Gates, the Microsoft Corp co-founder, hailed Jobs for taking big risks and developing products with "incredible taste and elegance". Jobs and Gates recalled the early days working together in the 1970s, sharing their views on the state of technology at that time. When Kara Swisher, the journal’s technology reporter asked for the greatest misunderstanding in their relationship, Jobs joked: "We’ve kept our marriage secret for over a decade now." Gates added: "Neither of us have anything to complain about, in general... It’s been fun to work together." The two touched briefly on the US 2008 elections. Gates said candidates should be measured by their ideas for improving education. The two worked together in the 1970s, but their companies have remained fierce rivals. Gates dropped out of Harvard University in 1975 to found Microsoft with childhood friend Paul Allen. He turned the company into the world’s largest maker of computer software. Jobs and friend Steve Wozniak founded Apple in 1976, five years before IBM Corp jumped into the personal computer market. After leaving Apple in 1985, Jobs made a triumphant return in 1997 when Apple was struggling to survive. Jobs is widely credited with Apple’s renaissance with a string of innovative products--the iMac computer for consumers, the powerful PowerMac and PowerBook, and more recently, the iPod digital music player. Microsoft has long dominated with its Windows operating system and software programs like Excel and Office. But Apple scored big with its iPod, introduced in 2001, and its iTunes online music store. Next month, the company’s set to introduce its much-anticipated iPhone mobile handset. Microsoft released the Zune music player in November to compete with iPod. An audience member later asked the two men what they learned from each other. "The way he does things is just different. It’s magical," Gates said. "Microsoft learned how to partner with people really well, and I think if Apple could have had a little more of that in its DNA, it would have served it extremely well," said Jobs. Gates and Jobs never worked together before.