Java has been one of the IT industry's major success
stories. Sun Microsystems, which launched the product, claims it is
used by more than four million enterprise developers worldwide. For
many it is seen as the only alternative to Microsoft's .net
platform.
But the programming language has faced considerable obstacles in
the decade since it was launched, most notably a long-standing
legal spat with Microsoft, and the failure of the Network
Computer.
In 1997, Sun, Oracle, Netscape, IBM and Apple joined forces against
the Microsoft/Intel monopoly, to announce the death of the PC, and
the era of the Network Computer, a rival client hardware
device.
Larry Ellison, Scott McNealy and Marc Andreessen were among the
colourful figures who weighed into the debate at the time. Java was
positioned as a desktop alternative to Windows on Intel
chips.
The Network Computer was a sub-£350 machine, similar to a discless
workstation, with no floppy or hard disk storage.
Its operating system hosted a small Web browser, which launched the
Java Virtual Machine when a Java application was downloaded.
Examples of Network Computers were Sun's Javastation, IBM's Network
Station, and the Wyse Winterm 4300.
However, Microsoft fought back and won over computer equipment
buyers with three initiatives: the Simply Interactive PC, the
NetPC, and the 'Zero Administration' initiative for Windows. These
focused on solving the issues of cost, ease of use, and
manageability, with Microsoft promoting the "thick" Intel-based
client as performing better than the Network Computer.
Meanwhile, Sun had a long confrontation with Microsoft over Java.
In 1996 Microsoft licensed Java from Sun for five years, for £2m a
year, but the following year, Sun sued Microsoft for breach of
contract and copyright infringement, seeking £18m in damages.
As the case became increasingly acrimonious, a US district judge
ordered Microsoft to remove the Java logo from its products in
1998, and Microsoft announced C# and the .net Framework to compete
directly against Sun's J2EE.
Sun and Microsoft settled the 1997 lawsuit in 2001, with Microsoft
agreeing to pay Sun £11m, and gaining the right to continue
shipping products with Microsoft's version of Java technology for a
further seven years.
But in 2002, Sun filed a private antitrust lawsuit against
Microsoft, seeking an injunction over Sun's Java Virtual Machine's
inclusion in Windows.
The final act of the drama took place in 2004, when Sun and
Microsoft settled all litigation, and signed a technology-sharing
agreement.
Microsoft paid Sun £850m to resolve past claims and £197m in
licensing fees for unspecified Sun technologies.
Meanwhile, many companies are still paying to maintain two separate
development teams for Java and .net, as well as the cost of
integrating two separate sets of systems.
Has Java delivered on 'write once, use anywhere'? >>