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Java revved up to fight Microsoft
SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Network-computer maker Sun Microsystems is going on the offense against archrival Microsoft by building its Java software as a consumer brand, Sun chairman and chief executive Scott McNealy said on Friday. "We're going from defensive to offensive," McNealy said at a press conference after his keynote speech to some 10,000 software programmers at Sun's JavaOne technical conference in San Francisco on Friday. "We spent eight years building and protecting this brand and now it's time to go on the offensive." Defending turfAt the same time, Sun is still in defensive mode, as speculation persists that it may be a takeover target in light of the 92 percent drop in its stock since a record closing high of $64.31 in September 2000. Since it was introduced in 1995, Java has matured and is now found in everything from Java smart cards to printers, computers, servers and cell phones, and has spawned a community of 3 million software developers. "Java is becoming a consumer brand," McNealy said during his speech. "I was accused a long time ago of over-hyping Java; and looking back over eight years now I think we under-hyped it." Analysts have said that, to date, Sun has largely pitched Java as an instrument to blunt Microsoft's efforts on the Internet, handheld devices and other technology sectors. Making headwayBut Sun made headway this week in its efforts to wield Java more as a competitive weapon against Microsoft. On Wednesday, Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard, the world's No. 1 and No. 2 personal computer makers, announced they would load Java software on their upcoming PC models. Until recently, most PCs were shipped with Microsoft's version of the Java Virtual Machine, software that is needed to run programs written in Java. Sun had filed suit against Microsoft alleging that Microsoft had altered Java to make it work best only on Windows machines. In December, a Maryland federal judge ordered Microsoft to include Sun's unaltered version of Java in its Windows operating system. Microsoft is appealing. Sun also has an ongoing private antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft that it filed in March 2002. Sun also announced a tie-up among cell phone makers to standardize the process of certifying new applications that use Java in cell phones, which it said should speed the proliferation of phones that use Java. Not for saleThe Palo Alto, California company also announced an agreement with Intel, the largest chipmaker and whose Xeon, Pentium and Itanium processors compete with Sun's Sparc processors, to make Sun's Java software for mobile devices work better Intel's X-scale processors. "Anybody who doesn't think we're relevant hasn't been to JavaOne," McNealy said, after holding up a newspaper article that questioned Sun's ability to capture more revenue from the widespread proliferation of Java. McNealy, well known in Silicon Valley for his caustic comments about Microsoft and his trenchant wit, also suggested that Sun -- whose shares have staged small rallies in recent weeks on takeover rumors -- is not for sale. "Take $5 (a share) times 3.3 billion shares outstanding and you get $15 to $20 billion and then add a premium to that," McNealy said, adding that he would want cash, not stock. "How many non-convicted monopolists can afford that?" McNealy asked, a reference to Microsoft, which was ruled a monopoly and has $48 billion in cash on its balance sheet. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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