“Over the years, Sun has developed a new virtual machine dubbed
HotSpot to speed performance. Until now, that software was
available only for servers; now Sun has released a version for
desktop computers.”
“Sun, though, faces a challenge with the new software: getting
it into the hands of Web users. To be useful, people must upgrade
their Web browsers or download a component available only for
Windows computers. Netscape Communications plans to incorporate the
new software in the second half of this year with Netscape 6, the
company said.”
“In a twist of irony, though, the universality that gives
Java its potential is the factor that hampers its advancement. A
company writing a Java program that downloads to a Web browser–an
“applet”–must reckon with older versions of Java that still
prevail.”