InformationWeek

August 18, 1997

Lotus And Microsoft Tal k Net Integration

Papows and Gates discuss ways to use Java in DCOM

otus Development Corp. and Microsoft took another step toward tighter integration of their Internet products last week as Lotus CEO Jeff Papows met with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to discuss ways to use Java to define remote object components in Microsoft's Distributed Common Object Model. Supporting Java in DCOM, Microsoft's communications protocol for objects, would help make it easier for DCOM to be compatible with competing object models, including Corba and IIOP.

Papows is playing somewhat of a diplomatic emissary role in what he calls the "holy wars" between M icrosoft and Lotus-IBM, Sun, Oracle, and other companies over the advancement of Java (specifically, 100% pure Java) as the standard cross-platform development language.

"This isn't Luke Skywalker vs. the Evil Empire," Papows joked after his keynote speech Aug. 12 at DCI Internet Expo in Boston. "We've made some progress already." The companies recently outlined plans to integrate Notes 5.0 with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 (IW, Aug. 4, p. 26).

Corporate users seem pleased with the archrivals' recent moves. Chevron Corp. says improved interoperability between the Notes client and Internet Explorer might prevent it from dropping Notes altogether. The oil company has about 3,000 Notes seats but plans to migrate the client systems and nearly 30,000 other users to IE early next year, says Jim Nathlich, a technical analyst at Chevron Information Technology Co. in San Ramon, Calif. "If Notes becomes more integrated with DCOM and ActiveX, we'd turn a more positive eye toward it."

But some analysts a ren't as optimistic that Microsoft will support Corba and IIOP in DCOM. Says Karen Boucher, an analyst at the Standish Group, a Newton, Mass., consulting firm, "The Object Management Group has tried for two years to get Microsoft to work on DCOM-Corba interoperability and hasn't had any luck."

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