At an internal Microsoft developers
conference last week, a company official reportedly said
that the minimum installation of the next Internet
Explorer release would not include a Java Virtual Machine.
A developer who attended Dev Day '98
said the announcement came in a speech by a Microsoft
product manager, entitled "What's New With IE
5." According to the developer, who asked not to be
identified, the Microsoft speaker said that when a user
does the minimum installation of IE5, then surfs to a site
that uses Java, the user will be prompted with, "This
site uses Java, which requires a Java Virtual Machine.
Would you like to download it now?"
If Microsoft follows through with the
move, it could result in a vastly reduced number of
browsers on the Internet that support Sun Microsystems'
prized programming language, since many users never bother
to install software beyond what comes pre-packaged.
Currently all the various download
options for Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows include Java
support. The smallest download, called "Browser
only," includes the browser and support for DirectX
and Java. The larger downloads add components like
Microsoft's email software, Outlook Express, Active
Desktop, and Microsoft's Web Publishing Wizard.
As all the mainstream Windows downloads
now include Java support, the scenario would introduce the
first for the browser that did not. Adding Java support
after-the-fact would make its use similar to the way
browser plug-in
software is used today. To add functions to the browser,
users can download plug-in software supporting special
features like audio and MIDI support, and thereby make it
part of the browser.
But plug-in software has often faced an uphill
battle in getting the general surfing audience to
learn about and install them. Putting Java support in the
same category might have a similarly damaging effect on
the ubiquitous support for the language on the Web.
Even when users know about plug-ins,
downloading them can be unappealing because of the time
required to wait for their download. Java Virtual
Machines, or JVMs, are typically a few megabytes in size,
and would represent a substantial download wait for
browsers with conventional 28.8k modems. A JVM download page
for specialized versions of Explorer, for example, shows
file sizes ranging from one to five megabytes.
Officials at Microsoft refused to
confirm the source's report, but Craig Beilinson, an
Internet Explorer product manager, said that "one of
the things that we are thinking very hard about as we move
forward, is the fact that size and performance are very
important customer requirements."
"Users also need the ability to
view all the great content that is on the Web (DHTML, CSS,
ActiveX, Java, etc.) and have access to a rich feature set
for customization, security, etc.," he wrote in
email. "At the same time, developers and corporate
administrators need a rich application platform and
administration solution."
Beilinson said it is too early to
speculate specifically about the next version of IE, but
that "perhaps the best solution would be a browser
that dynamically loaded the features that it needed as the
user surfs the Web."
Beilinson would not confirm or deny the
source's report of what was discussed at the conference.
Beilinson emphasized, however, that the conferences are
strictly internal events with presentations that reveal
ideas in progress. To "extrapolate features from
these early thoughts would be purely speculative at this
point," Beilinson said.
By contrast, Netscape's plan for the
next version of its browser will let users use third-party
Java Virtual Machines, but will continue to provide one by
default in all available versions of the software. "A
customer has a choice of using whatever JVM is appropriate
for them," said Jonathan Coor, senior product manager
for Navigator. Though the company will be leaving the
advancement of Java to these third-party JVM developers,
the company said it doesn't envision completely removing
basic Java support from the browser at this point.
"Right now our plans are not to do
that and there's a good reason for it -- that we want to
have base-level Java support in the client. We think
that's important," Coor said.
Sun officials said the company would not
comment on the possibility JVM would not be included in
the minimum installation for IE browsers until it could
verify Microsoft's plans for themselves.
Ironically, Sun announced
today that it will soon ship a plug-in version of its own
Java Virtual Machine, formerly code-named Activator. But
while Sun's plug-in may point to the ultimate architecture
for Java support for the future, the move is not meant to
replace Java Virtual Machines in browsers. Rather, it is
there to ensure that browsers are using the most
up-to-date JVMs. If they're not, the new plug-in would
update the software.
That's why at least one Java proponent
remains concerned about the impact of offering Java-free
browsers.
"It's very important that the
hundreds of thousands of Java developers in the world have
a fair chance to deploy their programs to the enormous
market segment controlled by Microsoft," said Rick
Ross, president of the Java
Lobby. The Java Lobby calls itself the world's largest
independent group of Java developers and supporters, with
more than 16,000 members.
"It's Microsoft that tells us that
the browser is inextricably integrated into Windows and
cannot be replaced or removed," Ross said. "Our
read on that is that the browser's interface to Java is an
essential facility that the developer community needs fair
access to."
Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit
Strategies, even suggests that the absence of Java support
could go unnoticed by many browsers. "It makes a lot
of sense to offer a hierarchy of browsers to give users
more of a choice. Right now, most people don't even know
what a JVM does, and probably wouldn't miss it if it
wasn't there," Davis said.
Ross doesn't rule out a potential
positive angle on the development, such as Microsoft
opening up its Windows browser to be able to plug in any
Java Virtual Machine, from Microsoft or others. The
company has already deployed such an architecture in its
version of Internet Explorer for the Mac.
"You could select which JVM you
want to use -- it's the ultimate manifestation of the idea
'Let the customer decide,'" said Ross. "If they
introduced that on the PC, the entire dynamic of the Java
marketplace would be different and Microsoft would be much
more respected within it."
But for now, Ross doubts that Microsoft
is simply out to provide a new model for Java support.
"I'm not naive. I believe that Microsoft has
demonstrated pattern behavior that reflects an anti-Java
intention. It is most unlikely that Microsoft will
abruptly turn and do an about-face from its
position."
This article is courtesy of Wired
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