Java to be Embedded in Industry-Leading Operating Systems
Agreements ensure consistent, compatible enhancement of Java Platform
Cupertino, CA - April 30, 1996 - JavaSoft, an operating company of Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) today announced a new licensing model for Java™, its core technology. The industry's leading companies will now embed Java directly into their operating systems.
Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi, Ltd., International Business Machines Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Novell, Inc., Silicon Graphics, Inc., SunSoft, The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. (SCO) and Tandem Computers Incorporated all intend to embed Java into their operating systems, which not only makes the power of Java easily accessible to the thousands of developers committed to each operating system, but also paves the way for Java to become a ubiquitous feature for end users.
"This represents a spectacular new distribution channel for Java, and a powerful new capability for operating systems," said Alan Baratz, president of JavaSoft. "Not only have we dramatically simplified and broadened access to Java for developers and for end users, but we've also ensured that ongoing innovations to the Java platform have a solid foundation and delivery vehicle." Under the new terms of the relationships, JavaSoft will provide each OS licensee the Java Virtual Machine™ and Java Class Libraries. Each licensee will become a provider of the Java implementation for their platform and will expose Java as binaries in the operating system, providing ready access to developers.
As JavaSoft and its partners extend the basic Java API's, each licensee has agreed to implement the new APIs within a specified period of time. In addition, each company granted a license has committed to pass JavaSoft's rigorous compatibility test suites for the current platform and future extensions.
"We'll ensure that Java can grow while remaining compatible," said JavaSoft's Baratz. "Our goal is to foster innovation on Java while ensuring that it continues to operate in any complex, heterogeneous network environment. This is a critical component of JavaSoft's model, and our responsibility to the Java developer and user communities."
Broader access for developers
Software developers will now have the power to access Java's Virtual Machine in their applications. For example, an IBM developer would be able to write AIX software that utilizes Java transparently -- like any other system service in AIX. In addition, Java developers are ensured that applications written in Java will run consistently on the major industry operating systems. "This is a great boost for developers who have been anxiously awaiting the ability to build applets and applications on the Java platform," said Jon Kannegaard, vice president of software products for JavaSoft. "UNIX developers, PC developers and Mac developers will all be able to easily develop in Java and ensure that their applications run on every platform." JavaSoft will still offer traditional source licensing for the Java Virtual Machine and class libraries, to ensure that Java is available across all hardware and software platforms and that developers have easy access to the library source code.JavaSoft, headquartered in Cupertino, CA, is an operating company of Sun Microsystems Inc. The company's mission is to develop, market and support the Java technology and products based on it. Java supports networked applications and enables developers to write applications once that will run on any machine. JavaSoft develops applications, tools and systems platforms to further enhance Java as the programming standard for complex networks such as the Internet and corporate intranets.
JavaOne, the first JavaSoft-sponsored developers conference for Java, will take place May 29-31, 1996 at San Francisco's Moscone Center. For more information or registration, visit http://java.sun.com/javaone or call 800-488-2883.
With annual revenues of more than $6 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc. provides products and services that enable customers to build and maintain open network computing environments. Widely recognized as a proponent of open standards, the company is involved in the design, manufacture and sale of products, technologies and services for commercial and technical computing. Sun's SPARC™ workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris™ operating software and ISO-certified service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX industry. Sun's JavaTM platform-independent programming environment, provides a comprehensive solution to the challenge of programming for complex networks, including the Internet. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982, and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
APPLE COMPUTER INC.
"This is an important step in a multi-phase plan to launch Apple Internet products and services," said Larry Tesler, vice president of Internet Platforms, and chief scientist, Apple Computer Inc. "With Java, we intend to offer superior performance on the Macintosh, as well as `Java-tize' Macintosh applications. Apple is committed to the Internet, and our brand name and ease-of-use strengths are a natural fit for consumers looking to make sense of the Information Superhighway."HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY
"Our customers are very excited about the potential of network-based applications," said Rich Sevcik, vice president and general manager of the systems technology group, Hewlett-Packard Company. "Java has captured the imagination of programmers around the world. Hewlett-Packard sees the availability of open, network-based programming languages as a key component of putting businesses on the net."INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
"We have never thought of Java as merely a browser technology," said John R. Patrick, vice president, Internet Technology, IBM. "The browser has captured the world's imagination because it's so visible. But the potential of Java extends beyond that, to integrate the Web with other applications. We see it as a very important technology for enabling network computing."MICROSOFT CORPORATION
"Java is a great addition to the Windows platform" said Bob Muglia, Vice President for Development Tools at Microsoft. "We're integrating Java directly into Windows with ActiveX, so that Java developers will be able to easily take full advantage of everything the Windows platform provides: tools, components, client and server applications, while maintaining 100% compatibility with Java. We're also incorporating our just-in-time (JIT) compiler in the implementation, so you can be sure that Java applets on Windows are going to be extremely fast."NOVELL CORPORATION
"As the first vendor to deliver a Java execution environment in a major network operating system, Novell supports Sun's open licensing of this important new technology," said Steve Markman, executive vice president, Novell Products Group. "Java and Novell's NetWare make a powerful blend for developing, distributing and accessing applications on intranets and the Internet. We view NetWare as the next major server platform for Java, offering a high performance environment for executing Java applications, and Java as the next major development environment for NetWare."SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.
"By embedding Java into IRIXTM, our operating system, Silicon Graphics will expose this emerging technology to an important community of leading edge application developers," said Jim White, director of digital media systems marketing for Silicon Graphics. "These developers will no doubt push the envelope of Java to build a new class of visual computing applications which combine Java with Silicon Graphics' "Moving Worlds"TM VRML 2.0 technology for 3D graphics and multimedia."SUNSOFT
Solaris software developers now have the power to embed the Java Virtual Machine in their applications and make use of any Java applications regardless of where it resides," said Steve MacKay, vice president and general manager of SunSoft's Solaris Products. "This is great news for Solaris users because it will give them access to a vast new library of applications now under development that may not have been ported to our operating system."THE SANTA CRUZ OPERATION, INC. (SCO)
"We believe that Java is the most important software development technology to appear in this decade! For the first time, developers have an environment where they can create applications that run on all major operating systems - instantly. This will significantly enhance our developers' power to create new business critical applications for the SCO platform," said Doug Michels, SCO's chief technology officer.TANDEM COMPUTERS INCORPORATED
"Java is capturing the attention of many IS executives because of its "write once, deploy anywhere" design. Tandem will bring high-availability, broad bandwidth, and transaction processing to Java. This is the beginning of the next wave of business-critical applications which will meet the multimedia-rich environment of the Web and where secure transaction processing will tap the full potential of the Internet," said Bill Heil, senior vice president of marketing, Tandem Computers Incorporated.Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, The Network is the Computer, Solaris, Java, HotJava, JDBC and JavaSoft are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, INC. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and in other countries exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. All other product or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
PR Contacts for Press and Analysts:
| Apple Computer Inc. | Hewlett-Packard Co. | IBM Corp. | Microsoft Corp. | Novell Corp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julia Carey PR Mgr., Software 408-974-4455 julia.c@applelink.apple.com |
Jim Christensen 408-447-1678 |
Donna Sokolsky, TSI for IBM (212) 696-2000 ext. 209 sokolsky@tsipr.com |
Cornelius Willis cwillis@microsoft.com |
Hani Durzy Alexander Communications 415-923-1660 or 408-577-7721 |
| SGI | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | SunSoft | SCO | Tandem Computers Inc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandrea Todd Silicon Graphics Public Relations (415) 933-6765 voice atodd@corp.sgi.com |
Lisa Poulson (408) 343-1630 http://java.sun.com |
Cathy Barbagallo SunSoft PR 415-786-4607 cathy.barbagallo@eng.sun.com |
Monika Laud PR Manager SCO Phone: 408-427-7421 monikal@sco.com |
Gary Kinghorn Product Manager 408-285-5727 Kinghorn_Gary@Tandem.Com |