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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E_K_S who wrote (10790)	8/10/1998 1:19:00 PM
From: brian z	Read Replies (6) \| Respond to of 64865

This is from The street.com Vs. Microsoft: The Sun Still Sets By Cate T. Corcoran Special to TheStreet.com 8/8/98 12:17 AM ET MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Times have changed in the halls of what used to be SunSoft, the software arm of Sun Microsystems (SUNW:Nasdaq). Gone are the cute cartoons and quirky private jokes that used to clutter the office doors and cube walls. John McFarlane, the head of the newly reorganized and renamed Solaris Software Division, is no old Sun-hand, but came over from Northern Telecom (NT:NYSE) a year ago. Missing are the jokes of his predecessors, the fire, the sense that -- bam! sock! pow! -- Sun is going to break Microsoft's (MSFT:Nasdaq) knees. Or at least have a grin-inducing good time talking about it. All this has been replaced by a cleaner, nicer, gentler Sun. One that looks as though it will soon gracefully concede the server market to Microsoft and Intel (INTC:Nasdaq). Sun is the last holdout, the leader in its field. But it doesn't seem to be able to stave off NT advances much longer. "Sun is being pushed up a pole as the NT termites gnaw beneath its feet," says Maureen O'Gara, Unix analyst and publisher of the Unigram X. Analyst Rob Enderle of Giga Information Group recently dismissed the company as the "next Apple" (AAPL:Nasdaq). Shares of Sun seem to rally now merely on hope that someone like IBM (IBM:NYSE) will take them out. This week, that old saw surfaced again in a Dow Jones News Service report, and the stock rallied from a recent dip of 45 7/16 to close at 48 7/8 on Thursday. It will only be a matter of time -- O'Gara predicts three years -- before NT swamps Sun on the ground. Sun used to own the midrange and high-end server and workstation market. But despite Unix's strengths -- it's more mature, scalable and reliable than NT -- businesses are eager to adopt Intel-NT servers and workstations. Why? NT systems are easier to use than Unix, they work well with Windows PCs and they offer better price performance. And, most important, the applications will be there soon, thanks to a little strong-arming from Redmond. If Windows developers want their Windows-compliant seal-of-approval stickers from Microsoft, they have to port to NT too. Key enterprise software makers Baan (BAANF:Nasdaq), PeopleSoft (PSFT:Nasdaq) and SAP (SAP:NYSE ADR) started to move their high-end applications to NT on Intel about a year ago. That means the Fortune 500 will soon be able to run their businesses on NT-Intel machines. Sun's reign as the king of the workstation-server market is coming to an end. So the company's making changes: Sun recently reorganized, consolidating its separate operating companies into more unified divisions that share one sales force. The company is going much more heavily into middleware and tools, such as Java and the new Jini networking software. Sun is championing Java in consumer devices such as set-top boxes, pagers and cars. The company is pushing its Solaris operating system on Intel in the hopes that it can compete more effectively against NT on Intel than its proprietary Sparc hardware. Will the new plan work? To give credit where it's due, Sun is reacting a lot faster and more efficiently than Apple ever did to Microsoft. But unless it pulls off a surprise hit, Sun's going to be hunting on a much smaller patch of ground. The bad news seems to outweigh the good. The company doesn't see much revenue from Java, which is turning out to be something of a disappointment anyway. Java has run up against the limits of network bandwidth, not to mention a lack of truly useful applications. And Sun's promise that Java will be a "write-once-run-anywhere" program has turned out to be hollow. All these problems have kept Java from becoming a viable alternative to the PC desktop, at least for the foreseeable future. Jini is the logical extension of Java into a network. Announced last month, it was immediately overhyped by the press as the next Microsoft-killer. But until some companies actually try it out (the source code and licensing model are due any day now), it's impossible to say how much of Jini is pipe dream and how much is reality. "Jini sounds like a good idea, it sounds threatening, but will it turn out to be the same kind of situation as Java is?" asks O'Gara. "Java hasn't panned out. It isn't what they said it was going to be." Jini is full of unknowns. Jini devices might offer only a limited subset of the functionality currently available over LAN networks. It might not be widely adopted, which would limit its usefulness. It might not really interoperate with the Windows world, which would limit its usefulness. On the other hand, if Jini is successful, it could bring a much-needed revenue stream into Sun. But even here, a cloud already looms. Hewlett-Packard (HWP:NYSE) has stolen some of Sun's thunder by cloning the money-making Java Virtual Machine all Jini devices will need. In the world of Web servers, Sun is working hard to maintain its lead. But Microsoft, Linux and others are hot on its heels. So far, customer reaction to Solaris on Intel has been tepid, even after several years in the market. The JavaStation has been plagued with delays and problems, and key customers such as Federal Express (FDX:NYSE) have chosen Windows terminals instead. "Sun and others got it wrong out of the chute," McFarlane admits, adding that the thin-client paradigm is still alive and well in other forms. But NTs have mostly turned out to be replacements for the small dumb-terminal market. Fortunately, middleware -- particularly Internet tools -- appears to be one potentially bright spot for Sun. True, they will be competing head-on with Microsoft and many others, but at least the market is still somewhat up for grabs. Sun is off to a good start with its recent acquisition of a little-known but very successful Internet tools company called NetDynamics. If anything, Sun appears relatively sanguine about the wrenching changes in its future. When queried about Microsoft's tactics, McFarlane replies that Microsoft might have crossed a boundary by illegally tying its products, but that there's nothing wrong with aggression or bundling per se. What's more, Microsoft has great marketing. ... Windows is a fact of life. ... and Sun needs to work with Microsoft products. ... What? Come again? These even-handed comments don't sound anything like the Sun of old. That's right, says McFarlane. "I think you're going to see a lot more from Sun in terms of our posture publicly of let's just get out and do business, let's go do what customers want, let's solve market needs and let's stop trashing people." But what about Scott McNealy's famously outrageous barbs and jabs at Microsoft? The day after Bill Gates complained that the Justice Department's demands were analogous to requiring Coke (KO:NYSE) to sell a bottle of Pepsi in every six pack, McNealy quipped that using Microsoft's version of Java was like drinking Coke with Drano. "Oh, Scott's still going to be Scott," McFarlane says. "Scott gets a lot of great press for us. [But] that's the reality of being a large successful enterprise supplier, is that customers expect you to work with their other key-enterprise vendors." That's evolution, says McFarlane, who reads books about paleontology and history to relax. One of his favorites is It's a Wonderful Life, by Stephen Jay Gould, which describes the soft-bellied creatures of the Pre-Cambrian period. They were eventually succeeded by skeletal critters. "I think understanding humans and history and our place in the universe is an important context to the frenzy of our life and the frenzy of our industry," he says. "I tend to handle stress well because I have a perspective." Maybe it will help him keep Sun from extinction.

To: E_K_S who wrote (10790)	8/10/1998 11:14:00 PM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

To All - I have been trying all day to order the free Intel version of the Solaris software from Sunw's Web Site....I have to report after two phone calls and many unsuccessful links to the javashop.sun.com website (server down or not responding!) no luck. I will continue to try tomorrow. Both the Netscape Enterprise Server and Netscape FastTrack Server will work with the Solaris 2.5.1 versions and higher. Also Real Player Server will work with Solaris V 2.5.1. So it appears that if I can get the Solaris (non-commercial Intel version) 2.6 software (it does take 4 weeks by mail and no direct download is available at this time)...I can get my server up and running! I am anxious to test the SOLARIS system compared to my NT system. By the way, I have configured the same system using Windows NT OS and had all the application servers loaded and working in about three hours. ====================================================================== If Sunw wants to attract the developer, they must provide a working, fast download site, similar to what Netscape has designed (and even Microsoft Ugggg!). Sunw must get their OS in the developers hands faster ...atleast they need to get their website responding so you can place your order. And here I am in Silicon Valley and am having a hard time getting a copy of Solaris 2.6.....Well Sunw it's a good start but..... EKS (Note: see the previous links to my post to see Sunw's announcement regarding the availability of the Solaris OS to non-commercial users)

To: E_K_S who wrote (10790)	8/10/1998 11:27:00 PM
From: Jon Tara	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

This new Solaris giveaway is a step in the direction that I suggested here a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I think it's a great idea! :) Unfortunately, there are some glitches, which could cause some backlash if not dealt with promptly. I went to the sign, joined their "club", and then filled-out the survey. Finally got to the "buy it" button, and.... nothing. The order form is broken - the server returns no response to the URL. I have used Solaris X-86 in the past, and was pretty happy with it, so I'm eager to give it a try on a machine at home. I've been thinking of setting up a Linux box, but given an equal price, I'd much perfer to run Solaris, because whatever I learn translates almost directly to Solaris-Sparc which I see as more marketable experience than Linux. I think they could get a good number of the programmers and hobbyists that now run Linux to move over to Solaris with this move, and that could actually translate into sales when these people have to recommend a Unix OS at work, particularly if they are in a non-Unix work environment. (e.g. a specific application needs Unix, etc.) I think most people would prefer to go with what they already know in this situation. Oh, well, helps make me feel better about my decision at the end of the day - in a 48 1/8 in the morning, out at 49 1/2 on the close. Purely technical, though - if I were a fundamental long-term investor I would certainly hold SUNW here. I would have held over night for a gap, with the strong close, except for two factors: 1. the market was poor, with a DJ30 -500 tick much of the day going into the close. (Though finally managed a 0 tick for the close itself.) 2. Although SUNW had a strong close - the kind of close that almost always spells a gap the next day, it closed on what I see as resistance at 49 1/2. That was actually the target that I had set when I bought in the morning, in fact. Had it gone through 49 1/2 (OK, it made it to 49 5/8, big deal...), I would have held, and probably would have held as well had it never touched 49 1/2 during the day. I've been trading SUNW and AAPL in tandem, and I think, given a good market, that AAPL has better prospects tomorrow, since it cleared resistance on the close. You can see that I am very much a short-term trader. But I like to trade stocks that are fundamentally sound, to reduce risk.

To: E_K_S who wrote (10790)	8/11/1998 11:47:00 AM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Inprise Corporation Announces Strategic Alliance With Sun Microsystems; Companies Collaborate on Java Application Development Tools for the Solaris Operating Environment Business Editors & Computer Technology Writers DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 1998--Inprise Corporation (NASDAQ:INPR) announced today that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) to team Inprise's development technologies with the Sun Solaris(TM) operating environment. Corporations will be able to take advantage of Inprise's familiar and graphically appealing tools for building and running enterprise applications on the robust and scalable Solaris operating environment. Today's announcement was made in a keynote address by Dr. Alan Baratz, president of Java Software at Sun Microsystems, to the 3,000 IT attendees of the annual Inprise Conference, ICON '98, being held here this week. Sun and Inprise will be working together to bring Inprise's development technology to the Sun Solaris operating environment. "Because Inprise is targeting vertical industries -- like financial and telecommunications -- that employ large-scale, transaction-oriented applications, the Solaris operating environment is critical to us. And, by teaming with Sun, we can tap the power of two companies to serve our customers more effectively," said Zack Urlocker, Inprise's vice president of marketing. "Sun is dedicated to making the Solaris operating environment more appealing to all enterprise software developers," said Doug Kaewert, vice president, market development, Sun Microsystems. "Collaborating with Inprise's popular development tools goes a long way to furthering the goal of making the Solaris operating environment the market leader for developers of enterprise-wide applications utilizing Java(TM) technology." The strategic alliance announced today is one of several ongoing initiatives between Sun Microsystems and Inprise. "We've selected to work with Inprise on these projects because of its reputation as a premier provider of enterprise development tools and middleware," said Dr. Baratz at today's conference. Sun Users Shift to VisiBroker ORBs Through a series of marketing programs, the two companies will continue to migrate Sun customers to Inprise's award-winning VisiBroker object request broker (ORB). Earlier this year, Sun Microsystems announced a migration services agreement to transition users of the full-featured Solaris NEO(TM) ORB, to Visigenic's VisiBroker for Java and VisiBroker for C++ ORB technology. Visigenic Software, the leading supplier of ORBs, was subsequently acquired by Inprise in February 1998. To meet the unique, mission-critical needs of these users, Sun Microsystems and Inprise are now providing consulting as well as documentation that maps key NEO features to VisiBroker features to streamline the transition between ORBs. Since the beginning of the year, Inprise has marketed VisiBroker to established Sun Microsystems customers. Many companies, including British Telecom, Royal Danish Navy, and NetGenics, have successfully made the transition from NEO to the VisiBroker ORB. Additional details on this cooperative effort between Sun Microsystems and Inprise will be announced in coming months. About Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer(TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of high-quality hardware, software, and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $9.5 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at sun.com. About Inprise Corporation Inprise Corporation is a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of enterprise application development, deployment, and management. The company is distinguished for its award-winning Borland family of rapid application development products and for proven scalable middleware. Inprise integrates these offerings with application management products to provide customers with end-to-end solutions. Inprise customers include leading enterprises and independent software developers around the world. Founded in 1983, Inprise is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California and has operations around the world. Inprise has more than 900 employees worldwide. For more information on Inprise, customers can visit the company's Web site at inprise.com. Forward looking statements in this release, including but not limited to, those concerning Inprise's future financial performance, product availability dates, and the potential features of or benefits to be derived from the Company's products, involve a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual events or results may differ materially. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, the following: difficulties in integrating the operations and technology of Visigenic Software or other companies or technologies which the Company may acquire, possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes, shifts in customer demand, market acceptance of the Company's new or enhanced products, delays in scheduled product availability dates, actions or announcements by competitors, software errors, general business conditions and market growth rates in the client/server and Internet software markets, and other factors described in the Company's S.E.C. reports on forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and the Inprise prospectus relating to the acquisition of Visigenic Software. Notes to Editors: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java, NEO and "The Network Is The Computer" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Inprise product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Inprise Corporation. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of the party using such names. --30--slt/sf* ari CONTACT: Inprise Corporation, Scotts Valley Brett Smith, 831/431-1341 bsmith@inprise.com or Burson Marsteller (for Sun Microsystems, Inc.) Marty O'Loughlin, 650/287-4004 marty_o'loughlin@bm.com KEYWORD: COLORADO CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: businesswire.com