Who's Out in the Cold?

"Raising the Java Standard" (November 1997 editorial) made some very good points about Java and standardization, but I don't understand this statement: "Sun executives talk quietly about revoking Microsoft's license if it ships its version of the Java classes. Who will be left out in the cold then? The few hundred thousand Java users or the hundred million Windows users?"

Actually, neither group would be left out in the cold. Such a comment implies that Microsoft is the only Java solution for Windows. In fact, there are multiple Java solutions for Windows, and only one comes from Microsoft. I agree that it would be a good thing if Microsoft wer e to comply with its contract; however, it's perfectly understandable why it instead chooses to spend money in court.

In addition, my company's experience is that the Microsoft Java solution is currently inferior to those provided by Sun and other vendors. We would have liked to use Microsoft Java since the compiler is very fast, but an instantaneous compiler is useless if the virtual machine is not reliable.

Dave Boydston
Solutions Consulting
daveb@sc-systems.com