Every few years, someone comes along and scares Microsoft chairman Bill Gates so much that when he goes on his annual retreat with his most trusted advisors each February, all he can focus on is the trouble that person is causing. This year, that man is Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems chairman and chief executive.

In a recent interview with VARBusiness, McNealy tells why Java makes Microsoft nervous.

VARBusiness: If you could communicate one thing to your VAR partners, what would it be?

McNealy: The sense of urgency about this whole Java computing model. We spent the first 13 years of our company's life around this "network is the computer" thing. Now in the past two years, I don't know how many other industry executives I have heard quoting our tag line.

VB:Why the urgency?

McNealy: I just think this is the biggest new change in regard to computers. You had mainframes and terminals, then PCs and fat clients, and then network computers. We are not swinging back. What we are doing is splitting the model up so that the infrastructure stuff goes back into the server room and the PC usability and choice is still there at the desktop. Java doesn't limit your choices; it just offloads all your overhead to the server.

VB:How do you see Java being implemented?

McNealy: There are three levels of adoption of the Web paradigm. One is you write to the Java browser on a fat client. That's a low-risk way to get into Java because there's a Java browser for every client and server on the planet. The next step is to replace the fat client with a thin client in some 3270-like or dedicated use environment. The third step is to replace the general-purpose fat client. Overlaid over all of that is the embedded stuff, which is going like crazy and resulting in Java cards, Java phones, Java TVs and all the rest of it.

VB:Are the resellers you work with today the right ones to make the most of Java?

McNealy: I think, absolutely; for the enterprise customers they are awesome. The resellers we will be working with that are incremental include the cable companies, the ISPs and the telecommunications companies. They'll take us into the home. Then there's the embedded OEMs who will get us in routers and the like. That's a world we haven't sold to. So service providers and equipment manufacturers will take us past what the resellers do. It doesn't minimize what resellers do, only enhances it.

VB:What about Microsoft?

McNealy: No problem. We share. Now, if they ever go beyond the Java specification, they are no longer Java. They cannot hijack Java because the second they break the Java specification for Windows, they are not Java. Windows running on your smart card, your cell phone, or routers is nonexistent. It's just not going to happen. The second you break Java compatibility to become Windows, you lose cross-platform compatibility within your own organization.

Source: VAR Business