Wall Street Journal: Microsoft pulls back on Java support. The decision to drop Java support from Windows XP was first apparent last week in a “beta” or test version that Microsoft released to software developers. Java “virtual machine” code, which is what runs Web-based Java programs, had been included in all previous versions. Microsoft didn’t announce the change.
The shoes just keep dropping, don’t they.Microsoft seems determined to show that it’s not only maintaining its standard business practices but stepping up the nastiness. Why the company, on the eve of the launch of Windows XP, would be this arrogant is something of a mystery.
Then again, Microsoft knows no other way to behave.
UPDATE:
“Thought it
might interest you to know that one of our guys ran a hotbot this morning, which
identified 7,189,200 web pages with embedded Java applets. Many are consumer
oriented sites.“In looking at only 100+ of those I found the following
consumer visible sites:NYSE
Cannon
PGA
Citrix
Bell South
Delloite and Touche
SBC
Airbus
Johnson and Johnson
NHL
Hyundi
Small Business Affairs
Social Security Administration
Associated Press
NAACP
BMW
Deutsche Bank AG
US Census Bureau
“While plugs-in are a no-brainer for O’Reilly readers, I don’t think the average
consumer is well-served by Microsoft on this — even if only symbolically. I am,
however, biased on the subject ;-)”