A couple of days ago, Apple hired ex-Compaq VP of Corporate Materials (ewww, with a job title like that, no wonder he left) Timothy Cook as its new VP of Worldwide Operations. (That's better.) Cook will be responsible for all aspects of manufacturing, distribution, etc. of Apple products all over the world. An Apple press release includes Steve Jobs' praise for Cook's vast experience in these matters.

The interesting bit is that, if ZDNet Anchordesk can be believed, several people are viewing the hiring of Cook as further evidence that Steve Jobs isn't giving up his Apple CEO slot anytime soon. The reasoning is that if Apple were about to appoint a new CEO in the near future, the hiring of a new VP of Worldwide Operations is exactly the kind of task they'd give to the new meat. Since they didn't wait, and Jobs was the man who made the formal appointment and statement, folks are assuming that's there's no one stepping in soon, and that Jobs is further entrenched in the CEO position than he or Apple would like to let on.

A bit of a stretch? Maybe. If it turns out to be shrewd observation and deduction, we're impressed. But it may just be the Jobsian faithful grasping at straws, trying to find any indication that he really plans to stay, despite his public proclamation that he's not interested in the permanent CEO slot. As for us, we at AtAT saw the image of Steve Jobs in a banana-nut muffin this morning, which we interpret to be a sign of his continued role of Saviour. (We'd post a photo, but we were really hungry; sorry about that.)

And we hope that Jobs does stick around, if he's even partially responsible for the veritable Love Fest Apple's enjoying in the press lately. For a prime example of the kind of turnaround Apple's receiving, just check out this CNET article, which begins by stating that Apple is "rotten no more." Did you ever think you'd read anything so positive in an article on the Intel-sponsored CNET? Neither did we.

Among the reasons listed for Apple's shedding of "unclean" status are the advent of product-focused ads in its "Think Different" ad campaign, the build-to-order Apple Store, and their deal with CompUSA to open Apple stores-within-stores. One financial analyst quoted in the story estimates that Apple will ship 300,000 Powermac G3's this quarter, which may indicate a profit to be announced next month. And Apple's stock just keeps on rising, having closed this week at 27 1/8, the highest it's been since August. (If you ignore the short-lived spike when Apple announced Microsoft's investment, AAPL is higher than it's been in over a year.) In fact, Apple's year-to-date gains are higher that Dell's, IBM's, and Compaq's, according to MacCentral. Sounds like a comeback...

One quick thought about the CNET article-- we suppose it's possible that it's so positive precisely because Intel is such a visible investor in CNET. It wouldn't look right for CNET to bash Apple the day after the latest Pentium-bashing ad premiered; people might think their bias was showing. It's also completely possible that we're so used to reading negative Apple press that we're looking for hidden explanations when the truth is simply that the press is realizing that Apple's well on its way back to being a force to be reckoned with. Now let's see if it lasts.

Reports have been flying all over the place that the Justice Department was planning not to block Microsoft's plans to release Windows 98 this June. However, today Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein squarely denies this, stating that they're still pooling their options. You can see the details in a Reuters article.

Apparently all the talk originated from a Wall Street Journal article, which claimed that the Department of Justice was "unlikely" to block Microsoft's shipment of Windows 98 on time, provided that they also made available a version without the Internet Explorer browser. According to Klein, though, the DoJ has "made no determination what, if any, action [they] will take and no determination if [they] were to take action as to what remedy." (Suppose lawyers talk like that in their private lives, too?)

Stay tuned for future developments in the ongoing "Redmond Justice" case. We're glad to hear that Justice hasn't necessarily to lay off just yet-- there's still a lot of fun to be had in the courtroom regarding Microsoft's business practices. It'd be a shame to see all that potential entertainment go unrealized.