Sun Microsystems has announced a deal between Sun,
Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer, which would see up to date Java
installed on both HP and Dell PCs.
HP has also agreed to ship the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on
Windows PCs by third quarter this year. The JRE will ship with
Linux and Windows PC for Dell.
"We’re doing our best to make sure Java is everywhere,"
said Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice-president of software at
Sun.
Dave Snef, e-business operations manager at IDC, said Sun would
have an uphill battle to begin to make inroads in the desktop
space.
"They do have low cost offerings that could, in fact, do quite
well," Snef said, adding that it is important for Sun to get Java
deployed on as many devices as possible.
In February, Microsoft stopped shipping Java with its Windows XP
Service Pack. This latest relationship between two of Microsoft’s
biggest allies is seen as a way to keep Java on Windows
machines.
"It’s part of the overall strategy to win over more consumers
and to get Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE)-enabled
applications on as many desktops as possible," Snef said. "It’s
Sun’s vision that they can begin to erode the dominant desktop base
that Microsoft currently holds."
Sun vice-president and general manager of Java software Rich
Green said the agreements were just part of the growth pattern of
Java.
The company also announced at JavaOne its push to increase the
number of developers writing on Java platforms. Green said
there were 3 million developers writing Java code and Sun is
pushing to have that number multiply to 10 million.
Green said that if Sun wanted to increase the number of
developers, the company needs to spend time looking at particular
segments within the technology industry, placing strict emphasis on
the corporate developers.
Allison Taylor writes for ITWorldCanada.com