It's official-- even as Microsoft ships Windows 98 to computer manufacturers, the Department of Justice and the attorneys general of twenty states announced today that they will indeed file suit against the Redmond Giant for alleged anticompetitive practices. Details about the suit's intent are available in an Inter@ctive Week article.

The government apparently doesn't want to stop Windows 98 itself, but is pushing for a preliminary injunction to force Microsoft to remove Internet Explorer from the distribution of the new operating system. Alternatively, the DoJ wants Microsoft to include Netscape Navigator in the OS distribution, with an easy method for end users to choose which browser they want to use and delete the other. The DoJ claims that neither of these choices will prevent Microsoft from "having its products compete on [their] own merits." At issue is the fact that Windows 98, in its current state, illegally increases IE's browser market share by piggybacking on the Windows OS monopoly.

We at AtAT continue to be surprised by the new, tougher DoJ. Of course, we can all see what's going to happen next-- Microsoft will fight it tooth and nail, and if they lose and the injunction is handed down, they'll appeal it and "comply" by, say, shipping Windows 98 with an integrated IE and a version of Netscape that only lets you go to the Microsoft home page. What's past is prologue, after all.

The relationship between Apple and the press continues to grow cozier and cozier, especially following the recent iMac and Mac OS X announcements. In fact, some of the coverage of Apple's recent accomplishments is so positive and glowing, it borders on the indecent. Consider, for example, this article in the San Francisco Examiner, which not only proposes that Apple is "giving everyone what they want," but even contrasts that strategy with Microsoft's attempt to "force-feed its crummy products to unhappy users." It's almost as if we're in an alternate universe or something.

Now, while it's true that the Examiner article was almost certainly written by a Mac-lover, without the recent reversal of sentiment about Apple in the press, it almost certainly wouldn't have gotten printed. A year ago, writing anything about Apple more optimistic than "they'll go under within two years" was a cardinal journalistic sin right up there with revealing a confidential source. (Heck, a year ago there were less-positive article about Apple in MacAddict!) It's quite amazing how much the tide has turned.

The real reason we mention the Examiner article, though, is that the author hit upon a great rationale for why Steve Jobs continues not to accept the permanent CEO position: it keeps the press hanging on his every word. Every announcement he makes is heard by throngs of reporters, who show up to every event because they can't afford not to be there the one time when he finally either announces he's staying for good or stepping down for someone else. It's such a simple and elegant theory that we at AtAT are embarrassed not to have seen it ourselves-- we hope we're not losing our eye for a good conspiracy theory.

Speaking of virtual love-fests, there's a new site worth checking out called the Steve Jobs Helipad. (The title, faithful viewers will no doubt realize, is a reference to the helipad Steve recently had built in order to allow him to commute between Apple and Pixar via helicopter.) This is the first site we've encountered dedicated to complete and utter adoration of Apple's interim CEO, and it serves quite well as a one-stop Steve shop. Head on over to read a Jobs bio, check out some news clippings, look at some photos, and even leave an open letter to Steve. If you're of the opinion that Steve's ego is already too big by half, you may want to stay away-- a site like this one threatens to give him an outright god complex (assuming he doesn't have one already).

Of course, since it's a new site, the Helipad doesn't even come close to the best-known Bill Gates fawn-a-thon known as Team Gates, which offers a slew of information for people who eschew being like Mike in favor of wanting to be like Bill. Team Gates takes the cake for even providing a page on which you can enter your first and last name and see what your email address would look like if you worked at Microsoft, so you can fantasize about that perfect job. We kid you not. And despite our continued skepticism that the site could possibly be anything but a parody, people continually insist to us that the whole thing is done in earnest.

Of course, the real sign of success in business is not how many sites praise you to the skies, but how many utterly despise you. After all, it's one thing to build a site dedicated to someone you admire, but it's a whole different ballpark when you're willing to spend time and energy putting together a site just to voice your utter hatred of someone. On that note, an Alta Vista search reveals 123 documents containing the phrase "I hate Bill Gates," which is the real indication that Bill is a success in the computer world. Who knows? Perhaps some day Steve Jobs can be just as despised. C'mon Steve, something to shoot for!