Thursday, August 28, 1997, page 12 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Microsoft's Rivals Tighten Alliance 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Associated Press
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK - Now that Apple Computer Inc. has defected, Microsoft Corp.'s remaining 
opponents have struck a series of deals to tighten their alliance against the dominant maker 
of personal-computer software.

International Business Machines Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Netscape 
Communications Corp. moved Tuesday to coordinate their work on a universal language for 
developing software that works on any computer system - not just Microsoft's Windows.

The three companies said their engineers would work together to make sure the Java 
language ran software formatted for different computers, ranging from Windows to Sun 
machines. They also plan to fine-tune the language to lessen problems, as well as time new 
releases so software developers get the latest versions at the same time.

In another move, Netscape plans to use Sun technology in its Internet browser, which 
competes against Microsoft's browser, to improve how it works with software written in the 
Java language.

In a third Java push, Sun announced licensing deals with three big telephone-equipment 
makers that plan to use Java software in new phones, dubbed webphones, that can tap into the 
Internet.

And Sun, Netscape and several other high-tech companies, but not Microsoft, proposed a 
technical standard aimed at helping to unclog bottlenecks that have slowed the flow of 
information on the Internet.

The agreements, unveiled at a New York trade show devoted to Java software, came after 
Apple shocked the computer world by agreeing to a broad alliance with Microsoft that 
includes a deal to develop a programming language that will compete with Sun's Java. 
<P>
--------<A HREF= http://www.waycoolinc.com/index.html >home</A>--------------------------------------------------------------