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Sun Wins Round In Java Battle
By Sean Gallagher
un Microsystems last week won a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit over Microsoft's
implementation of Java, requiring Microsoft to comply with Sun's Java Native Interface or stop
shipping Java. Microsoft plans to comply with Sun's spec but says the ruling will have little
impact on its Java strategy.Microsoft will add the necessary code to its development tools, says Tom Button, Microsoft's director of developer tools. That includes adding support for Sun's JNI to Microsoft's Java virtual machine and Visual J++ development tool, and changing the default settings for Visual J++ to disable Microsoft's proprietary Java extensions. Microsoft is also required to add a pop-up message that alerts developers who attempt to enable those extensions that the resulting programs will run only on Windows. The changes mean that Windows 98 and Internet Explorer will also probably become JNI-compliant.
This should have little impact on Visual J++ developers because most write applications specifically for Windows anyway. "Once you've decided to write platform-specific code, JNI doesn't matter," says Button.
In a letter to Visual J++ developers on Microsoft's Web site, Microsoft senior VP Bob Muglia assured them the changes wouldn't impact their productivity. Ironically, disabling Microsoft's Windows-specific Java features doesn't automatically mean resulting apps will run on other Java platforms. Any application using JNI to reference Windows code will run only on Windows.
Muglia says Microsoft won't drop Java, adding, "Microsoft's commitment to the Java programming language and Visual J++ has not wavered."
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