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NC Makers Meet On Standa rds

By Mary Hayes

endors vying for a piece of the network computer market stood in unity last week as representatives met to begin work on standards to ensure interoperability among myriad NCs and servers. Java emerged as the glue to bind them together.

The group of more than a dozen companies-including Sun Microsystems, IBM, and Oracle-will collaborate on client software specifications including Java System Database, which will serve as a platform-independent interface to different kinds of servers, meeting participants say. NCs from various vendors include proprietary technologies that can create interoperability problems. For example, some vendors' server-based NC-management software cannot manage NCs from other vendors. JSD is likely to be i ncluded in the Java Development Kit.

IBM and Sun are promoting the JavaOS as a standard platform. A readied version of the operating system isn't expected to be available until next month, when Sun plans to ship its JavaStations. "If we had a common OS, then we could have common device drivers," says Howie Hunger, director of marketing for IBM's Network Station. The Network Station uses a Unix-derived operating system, but IBM plans to ship JavaOS systems this summer.

Despite Java's immaturity, collaborating companies say it will help them avoid the posturing that could cripple unification attempts. "It's a challenge, but I'm very optimistic," says Trevor Strudley, an NC strategist at Unix vendor the Santa Cruz Operation.

A Microsoft official attended the meeting and took notes but didn't participate. "We sent a representative down there to find out what's going on," says Shannon Perdue, Windows NT product manager. "We feel the NC model is flawed."

NC users disagree. "Every NC I've put in just snaps into place," says Joe Greulich, IS manager at Roberts Express. The Akron, Ohio, delivery firm is buying 250 Network Stations to access data from IBM RS/6000 and Sun UltraEnterprise servers.

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