08:22 PM ET 09/08/98
Microsoft sees significant harm if Sun wins order
By Therese Poletti
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept 8 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. would
suffer significant harm if rival Sun Microsystems Inc. wins a
court order against the software company over Sun's Java
programming language, a Microsoft executive testified Tuesday.
Sun is seeking a preliminary injunction in U.S.
District Court here that would stop Microsoft from
shipping copies of its Windows 98 operating system with Java
technology that Sun says fails to meet its licensing
requirements. Using Java, programmers can write applications
that run on any kind of computer system.
An injunction would have a serious impact on Microsoft and
thousands of other companies worldwide, said Robert Muglia,
senior vice president of Microsoft's applications and tools
group.
"The impact is serious to Microsoft," Muglia testified in
the first of three days of hearings in a suit brought by Sun.
Sun executives are scheduled to testify on Wednesday.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun sued Microsoft in October for
breach of contract, alleging the company was not delivering a
version of Java in its Windows-based software compatible with
the language that Sun developed and thus defeating its "write
once, run anywhere" goal.
Since the commercialization of Java in 1995, Sun has sought
to make sure that all versions of Java are compatible and
offers a "Java compatible" logo for programs that pass tests.
Sun licensed Java to Microsoft in 1996, but for the past
two years, the two companies have been sparring over whose
implementation of the language is "pure" or "compatible."
Besides the impact an injunction would have on Microsoft,
it also would affect software developers using the technology.
Muglia said Microsoft's implementation of Java is part of
its Windows operating systems, Internet Explorer and about 20
products that also are translated into many languages around
the world. Adding together all the different versions and
languages, several hundred products would be affected by an
injunction, he said.
"In the case of Windows, it is particularly painful because
it is distributed by companies like Compaq, Hewlett-
Packard...," Muglia said. "There are literally thousands of
companies around the world who distribute Windows."
____________________________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now
Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants
If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done
directly from our website for all our lists.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
