“…Microsoft has recognized that continuing as an overt and
legal antagonist to Java has had diminishing returns for the past
few years. Since Java has gained enough momentum to ensure its
place as a primary language and platform for business applications,
Microsoft has increasingly been cast as an outsider in the quest
for enterprise platform solutions.”
“The settlement paves the way–legally–for Microsoft to
enhance its Java strategy by adding support for the language to its
.Net framework, as Gartner predicts it will by the end of this
year. The C# language, which hasn’t seen the official
light of day yet, will likely suffer as a result of
Microsoft’s increased focus on Java. Uncertainty over C#’s future
because of difficult positioning–coupled with the fact that those
who would likely use it are also those likely to use Java–means
that the success of C# will fall victim to the extreme pain
Microsoft is feeling from its lack of Java support.”
“Gartner continues to believe that Microsoft will introduce more
Java support in the .Net platform by year’s end. However, it is
important to note that without significant support for Java 2
platforms (specifically Java Server Pages and “servlets”),
Microsoft will use non-Sun (but Java-like) technology to
provide a Java-like language for .Net.”