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Microsoft and Java in NYTimes



For those of you interested in the Java War, Peter Wayner has an excellent
article in today's NYTimes/CyberTimes in which he writes:

"How should a Web developer respond to the cat fight between Sun and
Microsoft over the future of Java? The easiest thing to do is ignore it.
The differences are minor, and the battle is much more political than
technical. Most Web designers will be able to continue to use Java for
everything they want, and the applets will work on machines throughout the
Web."

But then he goes in to details. helpful detail followed by some very
intelligent and even-handed analysis which is worth a read at:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/under/101597under.html

He ends:
"There are also important practical differences. Sun is working hard to
get Java running on small portable machines like cellular phones and
set-top television boxes. Soon, people will be able to access the Web from
a variety of platforms, many of them too small and too lightweight to
support the entire Windows world. If Microsoft cuts out 100 Percent Pure
Java from Explorer, its Web browser may become an isolated island in an
archipelago where everyone else speaks Java.

In short, Microsoft can't afford to cut off Java today. It may wish to do
so in the future, and it may work hard at getting to a point when it can,
but for now the standard is too attractive for developers and Web users.
In the short run, at least, Microsoft has little choice but to follow
Sun's dictums, no matter how reluctantly."

==========================================================================
                             Paul Jones
Certified Black Helicopter Pilot *** Unwitting Dupe of One World Gov'ment
http://sunsite.unc.edu/pjones/     The Unix Web Server Book (Ventana 1997)
  pjones@sunsite.unc.edu   voice: (919) 962-7600     fax: (919) 962-8071 
===========================================================================