In an attempt to forestall or derail Microsoft Corp’s likely objections to its WABI Windows Applications Binary Interface for running Windows applications under Unix, Sun Microsystems Inc is expected to reveal at the WABI launch tomorrow that it has orchestrated a Public Windows Initiative pressure group of vendors that will attempt to force Microsoft to open up, if not make public, its future plans for the Win16 16-bit application programming interface for Windows 3.1, this week’s issue of our sister paper Unigram.X reports. Sun is striking not only against possible legal challenges but also against Microsoft’s promise to make Windows such a moving target that Sun could not keep up. Membership of the Public Windows Initiative is said to be a condition of taking a WABI licence – all licensees are understood to have been sworn to secrecy under the direst of imprecations. The Public Windows Initiative – with the Common Open Software Environment at its side – will try to claim the moral high ground on the issue of open specifications and is likely to cloak Microsoft in what used to be IBM Corp’s mantle.
