Here's another example of SUNW's incompetence:
From Information Week:
IBM And Sun Collaborate On New Unix, Sources Say
IBM and Sun Microsystems are collaborating on a secret
project to develop a next-generation version of the Unix
operating system that is tightly integrated with Java,
according to sources. The goal is to offer a scalable
platform tailored for Java applications while making Unix
easier to use. The sources say the long-term project --
which the companies officially deny even exists -- is still
in its early stages.
The new version of Unix is being developed for multiple chip
platforms, including Sun's Sparc and the PowerPC processor
built by IBM. It's not yet clear how or when the technology
from the IBM-Sun project would be delivered to users. Brian
Croll, director of marketing for Sun's Solaris operating
system, declines to comment directly on the joint project,
but he confirms the vendor is heading toward melding Java
and Unix. "Five years out, you will see Solaris be a Java
server engine," he says. "Java's going to be the way that
you enter into the operating environment. The fusion of Java
and Solaris is going to give the capability to run a huge
application on the server side, and it will just scream."
Java users like the idea. "Java and Unix married together
would eliminate a lot of the integration we now do
ourselves," says Rob Geller, a VP of IT at MCI, which uses
Java to front-end Unix applications. The Home Depot Inc.,
which is using Java for cross-platform applications
development, says a Java-Unix operating system could have
big advantages. "I can see Java application performance
being improved significantly, which is a big plus," says
Mike Anderson, director of IS for the retailer.
Java integration is also intended to provide a seamless user
interface that will make the operating system easier to use,
giving the Unix vendors more ammunition in their fight
against Microsoft's Windows NT. Although Dataquest estimates
that worldwide sales of Unix servers will reach $22.6
billion this year, almost double the $12.8 billion in
projected NT server sales, NT sales are growing much faster,
despite Unix's greater reliability and scalability.
"NT's dominance gets down to usability," says Craig Andera,
system architect for GMAC Residential Funding Corp. in
Minneapolis, a General Motors unit that uses both NT and
Unix. "The skill level needed to be a decent Unix developer
is higher than to be a productive NT developer." |
