“Sun Microsystems is leading the development of an
open-systems competitor to Microsoft .NET, Bill Gates’
sweeping initiative to deliver software as a set of services over a
wide range of Internet-connected devices. Gates claimed in June to
be betting his company on Microsoft .NET, a move he deems as
important to Microsoft as the transition from DOS to Windows.”
“At the core of Sun’s counterplan is StarOffice, the
Microsoft Office competitor that Sun acquired one year ago. But
Sun’s success also depends on its ability to forge relationships
with key members of the open-source community, which can help
supply additional technology and create an infrastructure for
developers to continue improving it.”
“Microsoft .NET is bigger than the Win32 application programming
interfaces–it’s the biggest thing Microsoft has ever done,” says
Marco Boerries, who founded StarDivision as a teenager in Germany
and became Sun’s VP for Web-top and application software after Sun
acquired his company. “If Microsoft .NET wins, Microsoft will take
over the Internet. It’s a bit of a revival of what they tried to do
with MSN.”