Microsoft's holy war on Java

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To be sure, Intel's decision for dropping its JMedia Player could have been made for reasons that have nothing to do with Microsoft. Java applications tend to run more slowly than those based on other languages, especially when executing video, audio, and other media functions. And it is no secret that Intel and Sun have had their differences on technical issues, including the way Java executes "floating point computations," or features that carry out 3D graphics as well as complex scientific and mathematical calculations.

Nonetheless, Microsoft was only too happy to point out to Intel the serious performance problems Java was facing and to capitalize on the friction between Intel and Sun, according to evidence detailing a high-level meeting between executives of the two companies. Microsoft also reminded Intel that widespread use of cross-platform Java could reduce demand for Intel chips. The two companies also allegedly agreed to find ways to make Java run best on the so-called Wintel platform.

Sun's evidence also reveals just how contentious discussions about Java strategy became among top executives at Microsoft. "Clearly the work the Java team is doing has hit a raw nerve with you," Ben Slivka, an executive overseeing Microsoft's Java team, wrote in an email message to Gates.

Java put Microsoft in a seeming no-win predicament. Executives did not want to ignore a technology that was fast becoming the rage among developers. But they were also concerned that developing Java put Microsoft on a "treadmill" that "validated" a technology which would compete with its bread-and-butter product, Windows.

Ultimately, Microsoft appears to have chosen to make features in its version of Java "platform independent only as necessary to compete with Sun's cross platform offering.... We remain on the treadmill only until our platform specific...innovation can outpace Sun's platform independent work enough to gain critical mass," some of the evidence reads.

Sun's evidence also details Microsoft's public relations strategy surrounding Java. Microsoft sought to change "the context of the discussion" of Java by relegating Sun's cross-platform version to a plain-vanilla form "similar to ANSI compliance in a C compiler."

In other words, Microsoft wanted Sun's version to be seen as a bare-bones product that needed enhancements to take full advantage of each supported processor and operating system. Microsoft included in its Visual J++ tool certain technologies to enhance Java application performance on Windows. "To be productive on the high-volume Windows platform, developers will very much want to take advantage of the full features of J++," a Microsoft executive predicted.

Microsoft's Slivka also cautioned his colleagues about "being negative about Java precisely since there is so much religion about it." Rather, he said, the company should "calmly point out the strengths of Java and the strengths of the Microsoft platform in complimentary ways."

"We need to embrace the merits of [Java technologies] and then move beyond them and provide value above and beyond the offerings" of Netscape and Sun, another Microsoft executive, John Ludwig, told his colleagues.

Microsoft maintains its strategy is perfectly legal and in full compliance with the licensing contract it signed with Sun in March of 1996. Spokesman Jim Cullinan said Microsoft fully supports cross-platform Java applications and claims that its Java Virtual Machine will run them better than any competing versions.

"What we thought about [in developing J++ ] was, 'We're a Windows company. What is the best way for developers to write the best Windows applications?'" he said. "In doing so, [we] allow developers to use the great features and functionalities that are specific to our platform."

Cullinan also defended Microsoft's dealings with Intel, saying: "It's an appropriate decision for Microsoft to say, 'Listen, we have a better technology.'" He added that recent moves by Intel make it clear that the two companies by no means have an exclusive relationship. Intel recently agreed to license streaming technology to RealNetworks, a move largely seen as at odds with Microsoft.

The reason Java has stalled is that it has failed to live up to its "write once, run anywhere" promise, Cullinan said--which has "nothing to do with Microsoft."

Indeed, legal analysts say Microsoft's opponents face an uphill battle in proving that its strategy was illegal. "It's something that would definitely have to be looked at, but that's not the same thing as saying it is wrongful," attorney Gray said.

Regardless of the legal definitions, JavaLobby's Ross believes that Microsoft has done a disservice to the thousands of independent developers his group represents. "We suffer because Microsoft has produced a polluted Java which destroys our ability to leverage Java's current and future [cross-platform ability]," he said.  

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