Sun: More PC makers warm to Java

After signing similar deals with Dell and Hewlett-Packard earlier this year, Sun Microsystems announced Tuesday that several other PC makers will begin shipping machines loaded with its Java software. The distribution agreements with Acer, Gateway, Samsung, Toshiba and Tsinghua Tongfang are designed to help Sun circumvent rival Microsoft's unwillingness to supply the PC market with Java, a programming language and its supporting software. While Microsoft's Windows remains the dominant operating system in PCs today, it is thought that the presence of Java in more computers will reduce the importance of Windows as a foundation for other programs. Microsoft has been fighting to remove the technology from Windows XP.

Sun estimates that the new PC distribution deals will help push the latest version of Java to more than 50 percent of desktop PCs. "These leading PC vendors are listening to their customers, who want easy access to high-performing, industry-standard Java technology," Richard Green, vice president of Sun's Software Developer Platforms Group, said in a statement. "These agreements encompass some of the best-known brands in PC computing and point to the tremendous value of the Java platform as a must-have for the modern computing desktop."

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