The ongoing battle

Sun Microsystems and Microsoft faced the judge Friday in the ongoing battle over the use of Java. At issue was whether Microsoft violated its contract with Sun for developing and deploying products using the Java programming language and also Sun_s Java copyright. Microsoft_s battle with Sun coincides with the software maker_ ongoing antitrust battle with the federal government. The hearing was to deliver oral arguments concerning Sun_s request that the judge reinstate a preliminary injunction against Microsoft in a manner consistent with instructions from the U.S. Court of Appeals. Java, touted for its portability, lets software developers create programs that will run on virtually any operating system, such as Windows or Unix. Conformity is a big issue, argues Sun, if Java is to be ubiquitous. Sun alleges Microsoft made changes to Java_s software code in violation of its copyright and the licensing agreement for using Java. Microsoft contends it is not trying to "highjack Java" as Sun alleges, but to make it work better with Windows.