Microsoft told to redesign Windows 98

November 17: Microsoft Corp has been ordered to redesign Windows 98' and other software that doesn't meet certain programming standards, or...

November 17: Microsoft Corp has been ordered to redesign Windows 988242; and other software that doesn8217;t meet certain programming standards, or stop shipping the products. US District Judge Ronald Whyte issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, ordering Microsoft to alter its products that don8217;t pass Sun Microsystems Inc8217;s compatibility test for JAVA, Sun8217;s programming language.

Microsoft must comply within 90 days. The injunction does not involve software that has already been shipped and sold. Although most computer users will be unaffected by the court order, the modifications will allow programmers more flexibility in the systems they use.

More broadly, the ruling sends a message to the industry that Microsoft8217;s strength can be challenged in court. Sun Microsystems, based in Palo Alto, sued Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft last October, seeking the changes and 35 million in damages for allegedly developing and distributing a Windows-only form of the language.

JAVA, introduced by Sun in 1995,potentially allows developers to write a software program once and have it run on a wide variety of computer systems including Macintosh, Unix and Windows. But Microsoft rewrote JAVA, when it included the language in its software, so that it would only work on Windows.

Paul Maritz, Vice President for Microsoft8217;s Platforms and Applications group, said new shipments of Windows 988242; would be modified to comply with the order. He would not estimate the cost of changing the software, other than to say it was 8220;well within our capabilities.8221;

The case is still headed for trial, although no court date has been set. Microsoft legal counsel Tom Burt said Microsoft was still studying the ruling and might appeal. Microsoft officials also said they are considering simply pulling JAVA off their software.

Sun, however, said it has a 5-year contract with Microsoft to include the language.

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In the lawsuit, Sun Microsystems accused Microsoft of trying to make it impossible for JAVA to become a universalprogramming language.

Sun8217;s complaints are echoed in part of the Justice Department8217;s litigation against Microsoft in an ongoing Antitrust trial. But both Sun and Microsoft officials said they didn8217;t think Tuesday8217;s ruling in San Jose would bring any changes in the case in Washington, D.C.