Microsoft Drops Java From Windows XP

Windows XP and subsequent Microsoft operating systems will not come with built-in support for Java-based applications.

As part of a phase-out of its JVM (Java Virtual Machine) following a January out-of-court settlement with Sun Microsystems, Microsoft will not include the JVM in new operating systems.

Although consumers who buy Windows XP will not get JVM with the operating system, they will be able to download it free of charge from the company's Web site, Microsoft officials say. They can also choose to download any other JVM, including Sun's, says Balaprakash Kasiviswanathan, a Windows XP product marketing manager.

Keeping Java's Lively Face

JVM is software that enables Windows to run Java-based programs, which are often used to create animation and interactive features on Web pages and mobile devices. The first time XP users try to view a Web site or use an application that requires a JVM, they will get a prompt to download Microsoft's JVM from its Web site, Kasiviswanathan says. At that point, they can skip that download and choose another JVM instead.

Current Windows operating systems ship with Microsoft's JVM integrated, and they will continue to include it. Users who upgrade to XP from an earlier version of Windows will be able to keep the Microsoft JVM that came with their old OS, Kasiviswanathan says.

Corporate customers who buy a single image of Windows XP will get the Microsoft JVM on the discs that contain the operating system. They will not have to download a JVM onto each individual machine, but it will not be part of the operating system.

An Ongoing Feud

The change is being made as a result of the legal dispute between Microsoft and Sun Microsystems and its settlement in January this year, he says. Sun had accused Microsoft of distributing a version of Java that was not compatible with Sun's.

Under the settlement, Microsoft stopped development of its JVM, and will gradually phase out the software. Removing it from Windows XP is a step toward discontinuing the product, Kasiviswanathan says. He declined to detail further steps in the phase-out.

"We will phase it out, but at this point we want to make sure people can have it on demand," Kasiviswanathan says.

And, according to Kasiviswanathan, XP will fully support Sun's JVM for those users who choose it.

"There is no lack of support for running any sort of application," he says.

Kasiviswanathan defends the work Microsoft did to enhance its JVM.

"Ours has a lot more innovation and was a better way of using Java," he says. According to information on Microsoft's Web site, the Microsoft JVM includes the Microsoft COM (Component Object Model), which lets Java programmers take advantage of some Windows features and allows quicker download of Java applications, among other things.