Mad Hatter to include RealOne

SEATTLE: Network computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. said that it is working with RealNetworks Inc. to feature the Internet media company's RealOne media player on its Linux-based desktop system.

Sun, which is promoting a desktop operating system based on Unix that it calls Project Mad Hatter, said that the deal to feature RealNetworks's software will allow users to get rich audio and video content on their desktops.

Santa Clara, California-based Sun is promoting Mad Hatter as an alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software, which runs on more than 95 percent of the world's personal computers.

Linux is an open-source software standard that can be copied and modified freely, unlike Windows or Sun's proprietary Solaris Unix system.

Sun and Microsoft are competing with Linux in the market for server software used in computer networking, e-mail, databases, storage and Web page hosting.

RealNetworks, which competes against Microsoft in the market for online video and audio streaming, launched an initiative last year to provide its software standards to a variety of platforms, including Linux.

Richard Green, vice president of development tools at Sun, said that companies looking to upgrade from older version of Windows were looking for cheaper operating systems and that Mad Hatter would appeal to them because of its lower cost.

"It will cost an order of magnitude less," Green told Reuters on the sidelines of a Sun developer conference in Seattle.

© Reuters