DAVOS, Switzerland -- Microsoft Corp. CEO Bill Gates offered oblique criticism of industry proponents who say software applications will increasingly revolve around Java and "componentization."

"I consider it sort of a misfocus," Gates said. "Why aren't people talking about things like customer utility or ease of use? People aren't interested in what language we write our applications in."

Speaking at an impromptu press conference here at the World Economic Forum, Gates was responding to a question about whether Microsoft intended to roll out a Java-based, component version of its Office suite. Last week at Lotusphere, Lotus Development Corp. executives offered a sneak preview of Java applet versions of Lotus SmartSuite that would run on network computers.

But Gates, escalating the war of words between proponents of the NC and the Wintel camp behind the PC, stuck to a familiar theme: that users will be best served by powerful personal computers and robust applications developed to exploit the systems' underlying technology.

"Do users want something that doesn't exploit the system they are on?" Gates wondered aloud. "I don't know. I would think they will continue to demand software that's very fast."

However true that may be, analysts last week noted that Microsoft Office could face a big problem if the NC market takes off. Revenues from the software suite--by far the biggest chunk of the company's business--help fund Microsoft's huge investment in startups and emerging technologies. Unlike Lotus, which is ready to risk going the applet route, analysts say Microsoft would be loath to cannibalize its cash cow.

Gates, who said he came to Davos for three days to learn from other political and economic world leaders, met with the Prime Minister of India, but declined to disclose the identities of other dignitaries he met.

Source: PC Week