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November 4, 2007
Much Ado About Java
I have been following the various posts regarding Apple's decision not to include Java support Leopard (newest OSX) release. Frankly, I believe it is much ado about nothing. IMHO, Java has a home on many embedded platforms. In fact, the Gmail and Google Maps applications which run on my Treo 650 are powered by Java. Some of my most used software (Limewire and Azureus) are indeed Java applications. So, I really do not believe Apple can curtail the sphere of influence of the Java.
True indeed Sun Microsystems really never managed Java very well. It took them nearly a decade to figure out that releasing Java under the GPL was necessary and critical to the continued proliferation of the software. However, I really do not believe Sun cared much about the desktop platform, after all they spent much of their cycles on building out hardware. Hell, I would call them a hardware company. At the end of the day, Java will have a home in well-conditioned environments. It has very well defined objectives as middleware or glue for various server based applications. As mentioned earlier, Java also works fairly well on ARM processors (ie Smart Phones, etc.).
Posted by AG at November 4, 2007 11:50 PM