Microsoft to Unveil Java Adaptations

Microsoft Wednesday unveils new ways to make the Java
computer programming language work on its Windows operating system.

The move is certain to escalate the tension between Microsoft and rival Sun Microsystems, which invented Java and sees it as an operating system that could compete with Windows.

Sun’s pending lawsuit against Microsoft charges that the software giant improperly adapted Java to work best with Windows. Sun says Microsoft’s adaptation violates its licensing pact.

Microsoft says Java is a good language but not a good operating system. ”What we want to do is help people use Java as a programming language and get all the power of Windows,” says Microsoft’s Charles Fitzgerald.

Sun promotes Java as a highly portable programming platform that can run on any type of computer and without the ubiquitous Windows.

“Microsoft is really good at co-opting stuff and bringing some added value to it,” says analyst David Coursey of Coursey.Com. “This is Microsoft continuing to take Java away because Microsoft moves faster than Sun.”

Coursey says the new programming tools will be especially useful to small businesses that need to create their own applications.

Sun’s Jon Kannegaard dismissed the move and said Microsoft is “trying to diminish the real value of Java” as a tool to work on any computer.