PC vendors are considering licensing Java to get it to customers, according to a Sun Microsystems official.
Sun has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Microsoft over Java, urging support of the popular programming language on Windows. But PC vendors themselves are looking to get access to the technology, Sun executive vice-president of software, Jonathan Schwartz, said.
"PC OEMs, all of them, are looking at licensing Java," Schwartz said. "We hope to have progress soon, mainly so they can assure their customers the continuity that they experience on the Web."
Sun has a compatible run-time for Java on the desktop, he said.
Java also was being deployed on devices, although currently games might be more prevalent an application than something such as a Siebel CRM application, Schwartz said.
Over time, Sun believed that would change, he said.
Commenting on pricing for Sun's upcoming Project Orion products, that bundle either the Solaris or Linux OS with a multitude of Sun applications such as an application server, Schwartz said customers would have a "predictable mode" of pricing in which they will know precisely what the infrastructure costs without worrying about having to pay more later. He pledged that Orion pricing would be much less than what customers might pay for an application server infrastructure from a major company.
Sun also intends to ship its Mad Hatter low-cost desktop environment by mid-year, Schwartz said.
