I also remember wondering if the special edition would be considered the official version going forward but seeing that first TPM teaser on Entertainment Tonight in November of ‘98 pretty definitively answered that question for me.
Do you think LFL/Disney would ever commission ILM to do a complete re-do of the SE? Re-rendering the ‘97 cg shots at late 2000’s / early 2010’s quality would not only be cost-effective but also wouldn’t exceed the resolution of the ST and the cg wouldn’t go from ‘99 to ‘05 quality only to revert to ‘97 quality for modern viewers watching the saga in official order for the first time.
Before you say “but what about ‘04 Jabba?”, well, I still think the ‘97 version looked better.
I highly doubt that would ever happen. Kathleen Kennedy’s often misunderstood quote of, “I wouldn’t touch those, they´re his” (or something to that effect) means LFL under Disney wouldn’t make any new changes to the movies. It does NOT mean they would never release the originals. That isn’t changing the movies, that’s giving another cut which has existed for over 40 years.