Microsoft continues its Java assault
Microsoft Corp. executives continued their assault on the Java programming language, urging attendees at their professional developers conference to adopt Dynamic HTML instead as a language to run across all platforms.
Although Paul Maritz, Microsoft's group vice president of applications and platforms, said he approved of Java as a programming language, he criticized plans by Sun Microsystems Inc. and others to develop Java into a mini-operating system that would be an alternative to the Windows platform.
He said Java-based programs developed to run on machines like handheld devices and network computers would complicate the computing process by layering a full-blown operating system on top of an existing one. Java purports to be a language that can run across all platforms, though it has been criticized for being too slow.
"There is a more realistic way of addressing the need for broad reach on the Internet," Maritz told developers at the San Diego Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. Microsoft workers then proceeded to demonstrate some simple Dynamic HTML-based programs that could be called up on several different platforms. However, the programs were not as complex as Java-based applets, which often include charts and moving graphics.
By both praising and criticizing Java, Microsoft is essentially hedging its bets, analysts said.
"Microsoft can't reject Java outright," International Data Corp. software analyst Jean Bozman said. "To do that would be to turn its back on Java's potential."
On the other hand, Microsoft doesn't want Java-based programs to replace Windows as machines like set-top boxes and handheld computers become more popular.
Microsoft has been locked in a battle with Sun Microsystems Inc., the inventor of Java, for the attention of developers as the language has gained more followers. Microsoft has developed its own flavor of Java. And at an analysts conference in July, Chairman and CEO Bill Gates downplayed Sun's Java as "just a programming language."
Analysts say Tuesday's presentation shows Microsoft has moved beyond merely criticizing Java to marketing alternatives.