Microsoft was none too happy with the court order forcing them to install pure Java in their Internet Explorer browser. So much so, they may even dig in their heals and refuse to include Java in future versions of their operating systems. If this happens, Java will surely perish. As OS/2 users, we have all felt the effect Microsoft has had on applications developed for the Windows world and not for OS/2. The same phenomenon would surely happen in the Java world. If Microsoft flexes its muscles and turns its back on Java, application developers will desert Java faster than they did OS/2 and Java will crumble like a house of cards.
There is only one force that can keep Microsoft in the Java fold, and it is not the consumer (Microsoft already controls the consumer); rather, it is the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) monopoly lawsuit against Microsoft. Gates' company is quick to point at America Online's recent acquisition of Netscape as proof that MS doesn't have a stranglehold on the industry and that innovation and fair play still exists. Some people are being suckered by this, such as the State of South Carolina who consequently withdrew from the DOJ lawsuit. But the reality is, if the DOJ drops its charges, Microsoft will surely drop Java and their domination will be greater than before.
AU REVOIR TBOUG
On another subject and something close to home, the Tampa Bay OS/2 Users' Group (TBOUG) finally closed its doors after five years of operation. This is particularly troubling to me since I was the founder of the group. At its height, TBOUG had as many as 150 corporate and individual members, but as IBM began to back away from marketing the product our numbers plummeted. Fortunately, the Executive Board over the years was able to maintain sufficient funds in the bank to revise the group and re-start it as the Tampa Bay Java Users' Group (TBJUG) effective January 1, 1999. As I've discussed in past issues, this type of shift to Java is somewhat inevitable for OS/2 user groups in order to survive. Will TBJUG abandon OS/2? Absolutely not, although discussion will be relegated to its Operating Systems Committee.
If you have a web link or bookmark to TBOUG's old web page, you may want to update it to reflect its new web address:
Best wishes for the holidays!
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT
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