Microsoft Corp’s claim that it will not ship Sun Microsystems Inc’s Java Foundation Class (JFC) APIs with future Java products but will instead deliver the Windows-based AFC Application Foundation Class of Java libraries that it is developing (CI No 3,092), is simply inaccurate, says Alan Baratz, president of Sun’s JavaSoft subsidiary. To begin with Microsoft has not yet begun shipping a JFC-class Java product (it’s coming soon) and therefore what it may or may not ship is still speculation. Look what happened with JavaBeans, says Baratz. Microsoft initially said it wouldn’t ship that technology. Second, while Microsoft can add extensions, its Java license means it has to continue to preserve all of the basic Java APIs, of which the JFCs are now a component. Microsoft Corp internet platform and tools division group product manager Cornelius Willis says that’s not so. He claims the JDK 1.1-compatible Internet Explorer 4.0 compatible doesn’t support certain redundant features such as Sun’s Remote Method Invocation (RMI) and the Java Naming Interface (JNI) mechanisms. It includes its own technologies in Windows. However, he promised total compatibility with the Java language and byte codes.
