NEW YORK, USA: Tim Cook, the small-town football fanatic-turned-chief executive of the world's largest technology company – Apple – long faced the question of whether he had the same remarkable vision as his predecessor Steve Jobs.

The question became even more important on Wednesday when Jobs resigned from Apple Inc and Cook took his place, with the former's recommendation.

Apple's long-time chief operating officer, Cook was confirmed as CEO by the company's board, and Jobs was named chairman. Jobs has been on medical leave since this January.

Cook now must prove that his technology instincts are as sharp as when he joined Apple in 1998, after leaving the once-mighty Compaq, then the world's top PC maker. At the time, Apple was barely afloat.

His gut decision during his first meeting with Jobs not only changed his life but altered the course of technology history.

"My most significant discovery so far in my life was the result of one single decision, my decision to join Apple," Cook told Auburn University students at his alma mater last year.

"Working at Apple was never in any plan that I outlined for myself, but was without a doubt the best decision that I ever made."

Now, as leader of one of the most highly recognizable brands, Cook will be called upon to satisfy investors and consumers who know Apple as a technology pioneer.

People who have known and worked with Cook over the past two decades use terms like "brilliant" and "phenomenal" to describe him.

He is also called a supply chain genius at a company that values operational efficiency nearly as much as design. Still, after years of relative anonymity as Jobs's No. 2, Cook is in some ways untested.

"Tim has been de facto CEO for some time and the company has been hugely successful," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial. "The vision and the road map are intact."

Cook started taking on more responsibility after Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant. Jobs is on his third medical leave.

Despite his ill health and ongoing speculation about if and when Jobs would leave Apple, he turned up time and again at milestone company events to the delight and surprise of Wall Street and Main Street.