Microsoft to add Java support to Windows XP

Microsoft Corp. is making its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) a standard part of Windows XP in an attempt to clear a legal dispute with rival Sun Microsystems Inc., Microsoft said Tuesday.

A JVM is software that enables users to run applications written in Java, the programming language created by Sun Microsystems Inc. Windows XP shipped without Java support. Microsoft instead offers a download-on-demand feature, under which the JVM is automatically downloaded when Windows needs it, Microsoft said.

Sun filed a private federal antitrust suit against Microsoft in March, accusing the software maker of using its monopoly in the market for PC operating systems to undermine the success of Java. In response, Microsoft is now adding Java to XP, said Jim Cullinan, a spokesman for Microsoft, in Redmond, Washington.

"In order to remove this legal issue, we are no longer going to offer the download feature but instead make JVM part of the default installation of XP through Service Pack 1," Cullinan said. That first update to Windows XP is scheduled for release in the second half of this year. Service Pack 1 also features some bug, security, and compatibility fixes, most of them already available as separate downloads.

However, the JVM has not won a permanent spot in Windows. From January 2004 Microsoft won't be allowed to change any of the code in its JVM, because of an agreement with Sun, Cullinan said. "Therefore we will no longer offer Java in Windows from January of 2004," he said.

Sun offers its own JVM for Windows XP.

In a statement, the company called Microsoft's "about-face decision" a win for consumers and software developers who work in Java. Sun, however, derided Microsoft's promise to cease distribution of a Java runtime in two years, calling it an effort "to deny the Java platform's access to Microsoft's monopoly distribution channels."

Also, Sun noted, Microsoft is using its own JVM rather than the later versions of the technology developed by Sun -- part of the crux of the companies' litigation. Sun promised to maintain a free, downloadable Java runtime.

With the addition of the JVM, Microsoft is removing the installation-on-demand component from Windows XP. A company representative said Microsoft believed, for Windows XP users who wanted to run a Java applet but lacked a JVM, providing the option of downloading a Java VM was fully compliant with Microsoft's settlement with Sun. The company contends that it still believes a court will eventually rule in its favor.

(Peggy Watt, a senior editor at PC World, an IDG News Service affiliate, contributed to this report.)

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