It's been confirmed-- Apple is going to show a special 30-second "Think Different" commercial during tomorrow night's farewell episode of "Seinfeld." According to Steve Jobs, the ad is meant to "honor Jerry Seinfeld for his contributions to the world of comedy." Read the press release for more details.

We had been wondering just how Apple could have been trying to persuade Jerry to star in an ad only days before said ad was to air; apparently, the commercial will consist of existing Seinfeld footage, which fits in well with the original "Think Different" concept, and also means that Apple didn't have to shoot new footage with Jerry and edit it together in a matter of days. Suppose Apple will use shots showing off Jerry's various Macs in the background? In addition, suppose there's any chance, as several of our viewers have postulated, that Apple would have managed to stick an iMac on Jerry's desk for the farewell show?

While we at AtAT are thrilled to see that Apple has decided to advertise during the final "Seinfeld," we're a little ambivalent about the fact that they are blowing $1.5 million on a single 30-second commercial (not including the cost of actually making the ad itself). As faithful viewer Artie Wagner points out, while the quality of Apple commercials has undeniably improved of late, they're not shown often enough to compete with the constant deluge of Wintel ads. We don't know how much "normal" prime-time network advertising costs, but if we had to decide between a single ad during the last "Seinfeld" and several ads shown on multiple channels all week long, we'd have to think long and hard about which to choose. Actually, nahh, we wouldn't; "Seinfeld" is a special case. That $1.5 million guarantees that Apple will have one of the most-watched commercials of the year. Still, you get the gist of our concern; we want to get sick of seeing Apple commercials someday.

We've been robbed! There we were, all set to trek down to MacWorld Expo NYC, quivering with the anticipation of a five-hour snack-food-filled road trip followed by seeing Steve Jobs deliver what promises to be a historic keynote address, when someone steps on our buzz by pointing out that Steve won't actually be at the Expo come July. According to new data about the keynote address, while co-keynoter and marketing czar Phil Schiller will be live and in person, Steve will be participating "via satellite." Geez, if it's really going to be a "milestone event," why can't the CEO of the company even be bothered to show up?

Color us irked! (Hmmm, someone call Crayola-- I think we've got a new shade for them...) We assume Steve has a very good reason for choosing not to attend, but it's still a letdown that we won't get to see him in person. I suppose it's way too optimistic to hope that Steve's absence is actually a planned part of some amazing presentation, like a demo of Quicktime 3's upcoming live streaming capabilities, broadcasting his charming animated image into a web browser in NYC from all the way in Cupertino (or wherever he'll be) via the internet. More than likely it's just some kind of boring scheduling conflict. We at least hope it's a personal matter keeping him away.

The true bummer: Steve's patented Reality Distortion Field® can't operate at full strength without physical proximity, and we were so looking forward to another session of borderline hypnosis...

The karma wheel's on the upswing for Microsoft, at least so it would seem. Remember that preliminary injunction handed down by Judge Jackson way back in December? The one that required Microsoft to offer a version of Windows 95 without Internet Explorer pre-installed? The one that Microsoft "complied" with by making the non-IE version of Windows 95 unbootable, claiming ignorance of the spirit of the injunction, before finally doing as it was told? Yeah, that one. Well, a U.S. Appeals Court has ruled that that injunction does not apply to Windows 98, despite the clause including all Windows 95 successors; thus, what had been the major potential obstacle that could block Microsoft from shipping their new OS next week has been averted. Techweb's got more on the ruling.

Now, that ruling doesn't affect the second big threat to Micrsoft's ship schedule, which is the action expected as early as tomorrow by the attorneys general of several states, who may seek to block Windows 98's shipment while they duke it out with their own antitrust lawsuits. However, Microsoft's got some good news on that front, as well; some of their scare tactics appear to be working, as CNET reports that Texas' attorney general is reconsidering his position on the lawsuits, now that several Texan companies have told him they'll be detrimentally affected if Windows 98 is delayed. That may or may not change the minds of the thirteen or so other states preparing cases, but it probably can't hurt.

So the good news to Wintel users everywhere is that, very probably, they'll be able to buy Windows 98 late next month, as planned. (The bad news is that many people seem to think that Windows 98 doesn't offer much incentive for Windows 95 users to upgrade. But you've got to take the Yin with the Yang, ya know?)