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Caffeine-Free Mac IE (11/21/98)
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As with any big company, sometimes at Microsoft it seems like the right hand hasn't a clue what the left hand is doing. Case in point: the confusion emerging after last week's preliminary injunction, handed down by Judge Whyte and ordering that Microsoft alter its Java-enabled products in order to pass a Sun compatibility test. Right after the order was made public, Microsoft exec Paul Maritz let slip that Microsoft was considering the option of not supporting Java at all. The very next day, however, we were all told that the changes that had to be made to Windows 98, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft's Java developer tools were relatively simple, and the company figured they'd have no problem complying within the ninety-day deadline.
Now things are even a little more sketchy, which at first led us to believe that not everyone in Redmond is completely clear on the company's new Java strategy. Faithful viewer Grier Huffman pointed us toward two URLs: the first is a letter from Maritz to Microsoft's customers, ensuring them that the ruling will not "impact Microsoft's ability to deliver its products" and that Microsoft's customers will continue to "enjoy the benefits of the fastest, most functional, and reliable Java virtual machine on the market." The second, however, is the Internet Explorer for Macintosh page, which plainly states that "Microsoft will no longer ship a Java virtual machine with Internet Explorer for Macintosh." It knocked us for a loop for a second, until we went back and re-read Maritz's letter-- which very carefully specifies that Windows products will continue to support Java. And now it indeed seems clear that Microsoft is planning on yanking the Java virtual machine from its products for the Mac and Unix platforms, as detailed in a CNET article.
So there you have it; Microsoft plans on supporting Java-- even the new court-mandated "friendly" version-- in all of its products... for Windows only. That's not to say that those of you who use IE for the Mac won't be able to load Java-enhanced pages; future versions of IE will simply use the Mac OS' Java virtual machine instead. Heck, it's probably a good thing; why have two JVMs taking up disk space, anyway? Still, we bet a lot of people are going to see the headlines and think that Mac IE simply won't support Java at all from now on, which may lead to some comical situations. It's kind of like that episode of Three's Company when Mr. Furley overhead part of a conversation between Jack and the girls, misunderstood the whole situation, and hilarity ensued. Remember that one?
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SceneLink (1166)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 11/21/98 episode: November 21, 1998: The iMac's stellar success has retailers drooling with the possibilities, and Apple's able to pick and choose whom to enlist. Meanwhile, Microsoft announces that future versions of Internet Explorer for the Mac and Unix will ship without Java, and "someone" is taking a public opinion survey about Microsoft's popularity in the ongoing "Redmond Justice" fracas...
Other scenes from that episode: 1165: Come Crawling Back (11/21/98) Hmm, sometimes it's really hard to believe that only about a year ago, retailers were jumping the Apple ship like rats with little orange lifevests. Remember how ugly things got? Places like Sears and Circuit City sold Macs back then-- or rather, they failed to sell Macs... 1167: 5- Strongly Disagree (11/21/98) Looks like Microsoft's doing a little market research these days, which doesn't sound like a very unusual thing for a software company to be doing, right? Except that the Great Software Mill of the Pacific Northwest isn't asking customers what they think about their products; they're asking for opinions on "Redmond Justice" and the antitrust issues raised by America's favorite courtroom drama...
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