Sun Micro free software aimed to undercut Microsoft

Peter Henderson

SAN FRANCISCO: High-end computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. announced on
Wednesday a free software initiative aimed at undercutting Microsoft Corp. in
the battle to set the standards of the next-generation Internet.

The battleground between Sun and Microsoft's .NET initiative is the layer of
software that will form the backbone of the next generation Internet, and Sun
will give away a key part, called an application server, that runs on Microsoft
systems as well as the hit operating system, Linux.

Sun and Microsoft see a world of "Web services" in which clever
software anticipates users' needs, such as automatically ordering parts for a
factory that is running low or finding directions to an appointment listed in a
business person's calendar.

For that to happen, a layer of backbone software must stitch together
computers that run operating systems and translate data between applications.
Sun has a good start, because its Java platform runs programs while sitting on
top of many operating systems, including Windows, while Windows programs run
only on Windows.

The next step is aimed at cementing the ascendance of Java, despite Microsoft
plans to phase out support.

So Sun plans to give away for computers that run Windows, Linux and Unix
operating systems from Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM a basic version of its
application server, a type of backbone software that runs custom applications
necessary for web services and communicates data between applications.

If it succeeds, developers wooed by free software will create programs for
its systems, rather than Microsoft's. "We are going after the .NET
developer and deployer and the Linux community developer and deployer,"
said Marge Breya, vice president of the Sun ONE software division.

"What we're really trying to do is bring together these three developer
communities into a consolidated Java web services ignition, if you well,"
she said. Santa Clara, California-based Sun is a former Internet star which
called itself "the dot in dot-com" until the firms that bought its
computers to run their networks began going bankrupt.

Sun hopes that the free software will stimulate sales of its servers and of
other software tools, including more sophisticated versions of the application
server, Breya said.

By setting the non-Microsoft standard, Sun is "making sure we have a
right to compete," she said. "We define open standards, compete on
implementation." However, the free offer is hardly an assurance of success.

Sun's competitive success in the application server market has been limited
so far. In 2001 Sun slipped to fourth place in the market with a 7.9 per cent
share, behind BEA Systems Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and Oracle
Corp., researcher IDC Corp reported.

Sun also has failed to convince many that it is serious about software
applications, which executives have long characterized as the means to sell
hardware.

(C) Reuters Limited.