Microsoft is still betting on ActiveX and DCOM and sees Java as just another language. Java is also a virtual OS and you can look at the "C" programming language as the Windows Programming Language or the Unix Programming Language if you want an analogy. It is all of the attendant services which truly define Java, a built-in component model known as Java Beans for example. That's only the beginning, there are 3D services, telephony, database access, et cetera. The use of a secure, robust, object-oriented programming language was only natural, but there will be many languages, including some legacy languages, hosted within the Java environment.
AFA Corel is concerned, they have an opportunity to be the business software of choice for the millions of NCs which will ship in the next few years. The NC will compete on a cost-of-ownership basis and all of the bloat-ware coming out of Redmond doesn't help Microsoft in that regard. As for application software, I seriously doubt that Microsoft's bloat-ware can turn out a better work-product more efficiently than a lightweight Java office suite, and that's what this is all about isn't it? It's not where you want to go today, but what you want to get done today, and the productivity and effectiveness of applications has been lost in wall-sized checklists of features. Go Java. |
