Microsoft Java Virtual Machine
Encyclopedia
The Microsoft Java Virtual Machine was a proprietary Java Virtual Machine
computer program
from Microsoft
. It was first made available for Internet Explorer
version 3
so that users could run Java applet
s when browsing on the World Wide Web. It was the fastest Windows-based implementation of a Java virtual machine for the first two years after its release. Sun Microsystems
, the creator of Java, sued Microsoft in October 1997 for incompletely implementing the Java 1.1 standard. It was also named in the United States v. Microsoft
antitrust civil actions, as an implementation of Microsoft's Embrace, extend and extinguish
strategy. In 2001, Microsoft settled the lawsuit with Sun and discontinued its Java implementation.
Editor's choice awards in 1997 and 1998 for best Java support. In 1998 a new release included the Java Native Interface
which supplemented Microsoft's proprietary Raw Native Interface (RNI) and J/Direct. Microsoft claimed to have the fastest Java implementation for Windows, although IBM also made that claim in 1999 and beat the Microsoft and Sun virtual machines in the JavaWorld
Volano test.
antitrust civil actions.
A Memorandum of the United States in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the case of United States of America vs. Microsoft claimed that Microsoft wanted to kill Java in the marketplace.
, the creator of Java, sued Microsoft for incompletely implementing the Java 1.1 standard.
In January 2001, Sun and Microsoft settled the suit. Microsoft paid Sun $20 million and the two agreed to a plan for Microsoft to phase out products that included the older version of Microsoft Java that allegedly infringed on Sun's Java copyrights and trademarks.
The Microsoft Java Virtual Machine was discontinued in 2001 in response to the Sun Microsystems lawsuit. Microsoft continued to offer support until June 30, 2009.
RTM did not ship with a Java virtual machine 2001, due to the settlement. This required users that wanted to run Java Applets in Internet Explorer
to download and install either the standard Sun Java virtual machine
, or locate a copy of the Microsoft Java virtual machine elsewhere.
Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002. It contained post-RTM security fixes and hot-fixes, compatibility updates, optional .NET Framework
support, and enabled technologies for new devices such as Tablet PCs. It also included the Microsoft Java virtual machine.
On February 3, 2003, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 (SP1) again as Service Pack 1a (SP1a). This release removed Microsoft's Java virtual machine
as a result of the lawsuit with Sun Microsystems
.
Java Virtual Machine
A Java virtual machine is a virtual machine capable of executing Java bytecode. It is the code execution component of the Java software platform. Sun Microsystems stated that there are over 4.5 billion JVM-enabled devices.-Overview:...
computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
from Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. It was first made available for Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
version 3
Internet Explorer 3
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 is a graphical web browser released on August 13, 1996 by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and on January 8, 1997 for Apple Mac OS . It began serious competition against Netscape Navigator in the first Browser war...
so that users could run Java applet
Java applet
A Java applet is an applet delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. Java applets can run in a Web browser using a Java Virtual Machine , or in Sun's AppletViewer, a stand-alone tool for testing applets...
s when browsing on the World Wide Web. It was the fastest Windows-based implementation of a Java virtual machine for the first two years after its release. Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
, the creator of Java, sued Microsoft in October 1997 for incompletely implementing the Java 1.1 standard. It was also named in the United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...
antitrust civil actions, as an implementation of Microsoft's Embrace, extend and extinguish
Embrace, extend and extinguish
"Embrace, extend and extinguish," also known as "Embrace, extend and exterminate," is a phrase that the U.S. Department of Justice found was used internally by Microsoft to describe its strategy for entering product categories involving widely used standards, extending those standards with...
strategy. In 2001, Microsoft settled the lawsuit with Sun and discontinued its Java implementation.
Performance
The Microsoft JM won the PC MagazinePC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
Editor's choice awards in 1997 and 1998 for best Java support. In 1998 a new release included the Java Native Interface
Java Native Interface
The Java Native Interface is a programming framework that enables Java code running in a Java Virtual Machine to call and to be called by native applications and libraries written in other languages such as C, C++ and assembly.-Purpose and features:JNI enables one to write native methods to...
which supplemented Microsoft's proprietary Raw Native Interface (RNI) and J/Direct. Microsoft claimed to have the fastest Java implementation for Windows, although IBM also made that claim in 1999 and beat the Microsoft and Sun virtual machines in the JavaWorld
JavaWorld
JavaWorld is an online technology website focused on Java technologies, founded in 1996. Since 2006, JavaWorld has become a subsidiary of Network World...
Volano test.
Antitrust trial
Microsoft's proprietary extensions to Java were used as evidence in the United States v. MicrosoftUnited States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...
antitrust civil actions.
A Memorandum of the United States in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the case of United States of America vs. Microsoft claimed that Microsoft wanted to kill Java in the marketplace.
In short, Microsoft feared and sought to impede the development of network effects that cross-platform technology like Netscape NavigatorNetscape NavigatorNetscape Navigator was a proprietary web browser that was popular in the 1990s. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corporation and the dominant web browser in terms of usage share, although by 2002 its usage had almost disappeared...
and Java might enjoy and use to challenge Microsoft's monopoly. Another internal Microsoft document indicates that the plan was not simply to blunt Java/browser cross-platform momentum, but to destroy the cross-platform threat entirely, with the "Strategic Objective" described as to "Kill cross-platform Java by grow[ing] the polluted Java market."
Sun vs. Microsoft
In October 1997, Sun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
, the creator of Java, sued Microsoft for incompletely implementing the Java 1.1 standard.
In January 2001, Sun and Microsoft settled the suit. Microsoft paid Sun $20 million and the two agreed to a plan for Microsoft to phase out products that included the older version of Microsoft Java that allegedly infringed on Sun's Java copyrights and trademarks.
- Office XP Developer
- Office 2000 Developer
- Office 2000 Premium Service Release 1
- Microsoft BackOffice ServerMicrosoft BackOffice ServerMicrosoft BackOffice Server was a computer software package featuring Windows NT Server and other Microsoft server products that ran on NT server. It was marketed during the 1990s and early 2000s for use in branch operations and for small businesses to run their back office operations.The small...
2000 - Internet Security and Acceleration Server(ISA) 2000
- Internet Explorer 5.5Internet Explorer 5Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war...
- Visual Studio 6 Microsoft Developer Edition
- Windows 98Windows 98Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
and Windows MeWindows MeWindows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
The Microsoft Java Virtual Machine was discontinued in 2001 in response to the Sun Microsystems lawsuit. Microsoft continued to offer support until June 30, 2009.
Windows XP
The initial edition Windows XPWindows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
RTM did not ship with a Java virtual machine 2001, due to the settlement. This required users that wanted to run Java Applets in Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
to download and install either the standard Sun Java virtual machine
HotSpot
HotSpot is a Java virtual machine for desktops and servers, maintained and distributed by Oracle Corporation. It features techniques such as just-in-time compilation and adaptive optimization designed to improve performance.-History:...
, or locate a copy of the Microsoft Java virtual machine elsewhere.
Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002. It contained post-RTM security fixes and hot-fixes, compatibility updates, optional .NET Framework
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
support, and enabled technologies for new devices such as Tablet PCs. It also included the Microsoft Java virtual machine.
On February 3, 2003, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 (SP1) again as Service Pack 1a (SP1a). This release removed Microsoft's Java virtual machine
Java Virtual Machine
A Java virtual machine is a virtual machine capable of executing Java bytecode. It is the code execution component of the Java software platform. Sun Microsystems stated that there are over 4.5 billion JVM-enabled devices.-Overview:...
as a result of the lawsuit with Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
.
External links
- Microsoft Java home page
- Microsoft Java transition FAQ
- Award-Winning Virtual Machine Continues to Provide Fastest, Most Integrated Java Language Support. Microsoft Press release, Dec. 7, 1998
- Darryl K. Taft - Microsoft to Junk Flagship Products, Cites Java Settlement. December 5, 2003. eWeekEWeekeWeek is a weekly computing business magazine published by Ziff Davis Enterprise.The magazine consists of a print publication and web site covering enterprise topics and is targeted at IT professionals rather than hobbyists.-Audience:The eWeek audience is actively involved in buying enterprise...
- Joe Wilcox and Stephen Shankland - Microsoft's Java decision a mixed bag. cNetCNETCNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
, July 18, 2001 - Download last version of MSJVM