Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Cooperation On Java

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Ten Year Agreement Sets New Framework for Industry Cooperation; Reduces Cost and Complexity for Customers

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced that they have entered into a broad technology collaboration arrangement to enable their products to work better together and to settle all pending litigation between the two companies. The companies have also entered into agreements on patents and other issues.

"This agreement launches a new relationship between Sun and Microsoft -- a significant step forward that allows for cooperation while preserving customer choice," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "This agreement will be of significant benefit to both Sun and Microsoft customers. It will stimulate new products, delivering great new choices for customers who want to combine server products from multiple vendors and achieve seamless computing in a heterogeneous computing environment. We look forward to this opportunity -- it provides a framework for cooperation between Sun and Microsoft going forward."

"Our companies will continue to compete hard, but this agreement creates a new basis for cooperation that will benefit the customers of both companies," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer, Microsoft. "This agreement recognizes that cutting edge R&D and intellectual property protection are the foundation for the growth and success of our industry. This is a positive step forward for both Sun and Microsoft, but the real winners are the customers and developers who rely on our products and innovations."

News source: Microsoft PressPass

hanges in this release:

DPInst + DIFxAPP changes:
·The expiry date of this version has been set to 7/1/2004.
·Support for two new driver types, namely network drivers and kernel modules, has been added.
·New rules for writing driver packages have been introduced. Documentation and samples are available in "DriverPackageGuidelines.zip".
·For PnP uninstall will not just remove the driver from the devices but install the next best available driver. (also applies to DIFXAPP)

DPInst only:
·New flag installAllOrNone (/i), fails installation if one of several packages fails to install.
·UI changes list the status of all packages found (eg: package installed, packages ready, package unsigned, package cert expired)

(2 replies) #1 ThunderRiver on 02 Apr 2004 - 14:30

Wow.. surprised it wasn't a post-April Fool's Joke.

But yeah.. if they can make Java slim + less bug holes.. their cooperation is a +++ for all Windows and Sun customers..

#1.1 tmaxxtigger on 02 Apr 2004 - 14:55

Yeah, this would have been a great joke yesterday!

#1.2 eds on 02 Apr 2004 - 15:00

I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony. Lalalalala...

#2 MaceX on 02 Apr 2004 - 15:10

embedded java sucks

(1 reply) #3 Dreamtaker on 02 Apr 2004 - 15:11

Glad I wasn't the only one thinking this was a belated april fools joke.

#3.1 em_te on 02 Apr 2004 - 20:21

APRIL FOOLS!!! HA HA HA!

#4 Tager on 02 Apr 2004 - 15:14

yea right. something will happen and Sun won't like it and they will sue Microsoft in a few years.

(3 replies) #5 IGx89 on 02 Apr 2004 - 15:49

It'd be great if this deal made Java a LOT faster and better looking. Right now, I can easily tell whenever I go to a page that contains a Java applet: it freezes for a few seconds while the JRE is loaded (on my XP2000+/512mb system!)

. Even Shockwave/Flash doesn't noticeably slow down my browser; why should the JRE have to?
About java's looks, well, I don't have to say anything more there

. Why can't Java apps look like Windows apps? Maybe even take advantage of XP visual styles? Even I can make a custom Win32 control that is visual style-aware; can't a huge corporation with tons of money manage to do that?

#5.1 em_te on 02 Apr 2004 - 17:58

QUOTE (#5.0)

Why can't Java apps look like Windows apps? Maybe even take advantage of XP visual styles?

It's really up to the programmer to select the look and feel that they want. The Windows look and feel has always been bundled with Java, along with a Mac l&f and the default Metal l&f. All it takes is 3 lines of code to change the look yet most people don't do it. Java 1.4 comes bundled with the Luna l&f.

#5.2 Zatko55 on 02 Apr 2004 - 18:33

IBM developed the SWT toolkit which uses native OS widgets. Eclipse is an example of this.

#5.3 Kestrel on 05 Apr 2004 - 14:33

Yeah, but you're completely missing the boat on this one. Java applets are far from the primary use of Java. Java is the server-side language king and, speed-wise, is quite capable of beating native compiled code. Java has not been a slow language for a very long time.

Of course, as has already been pointed out, SUN will find something they don't like down the road and try to sue a few more million out of Microsoft... it seems to be their business model of choice; innovation through litigation.

#6 BetaguyGZT on 02 Apr 2004 - 15:53

This is good news for everyone. Would be cool to see these two lay down arms and cooperate. I suspect that .Net Framework and Java are gonna be really REALLY good friends.

(1 reply) #7 gren99 on 02 Apr 2004 - 16:03

y'know, isn't ironic that for all the boohoo'ing about the EU anti-trust judgement, MS is willing to give sun nearly 3x the amount that he EU wants (even though it's over 10 years -- though the upfront settlement is higher than the 640 mil the EU wants) and hardly anyone bats an eye?

well, i guess all that's left to do now is to pay off real networks...

#7.1 Zatko55 on 02 Apr 2004 - 18:35

"Take this example of the European Union fining Microsoft. It looks tough, but Microsoft gets to appeal, remember, and this particular part of the EU bureaucracy has been reversed on appeal two out of the last three times. So whatever the fine, Microsoft has two-to-one odds of not having to pay it, or at least of having it substantially reduced. And while the fine looks like a lot of money, to Microsoft it isn't. That $600 million is the amount by which Microsoft increases its cash hoard in TWO WEEKS."

I, Cringley

#8 STV on 02 Apr 2004 - 16:05

damn hell has been freezing over a lot lately, hasnt it?

STV

(1 reply) #9 Callaway on 02 Apr 2004 - 16:51

Unfriggin believable.... Sun manages to dig $1.6 billion out of Microsoft, but yet they still have to lay off 9% of their work force, or about 3300 people.

Great company there...

#9.1 tonyunreal on 03 Apr 2004 - 15:14

Actually, it was 1.95 billion.

#10 tiwaris on 02 Apr 2004 - 18:28

I welcome this news

#11 IntelliMoo on 02 Apr 2004 - 21:09

hmmm Thought april 1 was yesterday..

#12 Randall_Lind on 02 Apr 2004 - 22:50

I like how all the players that help DOJ bring Anti-Trust suit against MS are not be coming team players with them.

(1 reply) #13 MegaManXcalibur on 03 Apr 2004 - 00:39

Well if this works out well it could really improve Java. Java right now is a great language (in my opinion, please don't flame me if you don't agree) and if Sun and Microsoft work together it could be even better.

Right now Java's main drawback is the the amount of resources it takes up. When you have a GUI enagled Java program it takes a rather large amount of RAM and quite a bit of power from your processor. Maybe with Microsoft's help they can get the resource requirments down for Java and make it even better.

I just wonder how Sun is going to handle working with a company that is in direct competition with them. The .NET framework and C# are pretty much Microsoft's attempt to destroy Java. So Sun is going to cooperate with a company that has been wanting to see Java dead for a long time. This could be rather interesting.

#13.1 brianshapiro on 03 Apr 2004 - 03:29

how is C# microsoft's attempt to destroy java. microsoft was willing to use java if it could adapt it to its purposes, so you saw them developing J++ , where you didnt have to run Java developed apps in bytecode and it could take advantage of native APIs. sun sued them because it went against the principles of cross-platform compatibility.

(3 replies) #14 tonyunreal on 03 Apr 2004 - 15:09

I was wondering whether ms could finally introduce java language into the .NET architecture. J# sucked, if there would be a java.NET implemention emulating JDK 1.4(or the pcoming v1.5) with a compiler capable to generate both MSIL and Java Bytecode, it would be heaven for windows application developers using java language.

Beyond that...maybe ASP.NET with java? Am I daydreaming too much or not...

#14.1 STV on 03 Apr 2004 - 20:30

I think that you are missing the difference between Java and .NET. .Net is a platform that can be used with and language that is avaliable for it, where java is both the language and the platform. Why does J# "suck"? it is just java syntax for the .NET platform, so does that mean that Java sucks too. I was surprised as to how well this language mimcs the real thing, in terms of syntax, give it try, if you havent already.

STV

#14.2 tonyunreal on 04 Apr 2004 - 07:41

I was talking about java language and full JDK 1.4 class library emulation implemented in .NET platform. I said J# sucked not because of it's syntax, but it's class library. If microsoft wants to present an easy path to .NET programming for java developers, at least they should emulate 1.4.2 version of java.* package, not the 1.1 one.

#14.3 STV on 05 Apr 2004 - 04:15

thanks for clarifying

STV

#15 Jerryseinfeld on 03 Apr 2004 - 19:02

Java applets on the internet will disappear in favor of Macromedia. I don't know how widely it's used in other stuff including consumer electronics.

Is Microsoft trying to save Sun from disappearing? I don't see one reason why they will survive ten years from now.

And what's with these press releases. Do people want to hear all this nonsense?
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2...AgreementPR.asp
"new relationship", "step forward", "cooperation while preserving customer choice", "significant benefit", "great new choices", "seamless computing".

If I hear a lot of claptrap like "customer choice" or "seamless computing" I walk away.

What are these "collaborations" and "communications" that is mentioned beside the freaking java support. How important is this java support for IE and applications. I've only come in contact with one java application used in windows. How widely used are they?

Hopefully Dell and a lot of other people will make Sun one to much and make it close its shop.

Last edited by 47464 on 03 Apr 2004 - 19:41

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