Sun Microsystems Inc duly unveiled the re-worked JavaOS for Business operating system – resuscitated with help from its Java partner IBM Corp – which they say is designed to run Java applications on networked client computers, kiosks, ticket machines and other vertical industry application terminals. However, for all the hullabaloo, the two provided few practical details about the system software. And neither company is ready to ship the software on their respective JavaStation and NetStation clients until early in 1999. More confusingly, IBM says it will offer JavaOS on products it does not currently offer, nor has announced plans for – Intel Corp-based NetStation thin clients – but not on the PowerPC-based NetStations made for it by Network Computing Devices Inc which it does sell. NCD already uses Intel chips for other thin client systems so there’s no reason to suppose it won’t do the same for IBM, but Big Blue wouldn’t even commit to a port of JavaOS specifically for PowerPC, offering that it will port JavaOS to other platforms over time. In future, Intel-based systems are supposed to be positioned at the high-end and PowerPC clients at the low-end. Sun says the important thing is that the software is now available for thin client OEMs, and to software developers to write device drivers for. Sun says it already has some device drivers for the software but wouldn’t say how many, what they are or how many other ISVs have pledged to support JavaOS. Sun says it already has partners lined up which will port JavaOS to other architectures including the MIPS and ARM chips, but wouldn’t say who these are. It says JavaOS supports both the Intel-favored thin-client device – essentially stripped-down, floppy-less PCs – as well as the network computer reference profile specification for Java-based diskless clients supported by IBM, Sun, Oracle, Netscape et al. JavaOS includes the full JDK 1.1.4 APIs for building server-side management. It also includes a device driver interface supporting any driver written for the system software, and server-side management for adding, booting and deleting clients. Sun says JDK 1.2 will be generally available in November. The client footprint is some 8Mb but Sun didn’t know how much the server software, which runs on Solaris and NT, requires. Available from Sun or IBM JavaOS is available as an SDK for ISVs to write device driver to and for hardware OEMs.
