Sun had filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft, seeking damages of over $1 billion, claiming that the software giant has used its dominant position in the market for operating systems to sidetrack Java, in breach of antitrust laws.
The case involves Sun's Java Virtual Machine (JVM), a piece of software that is needed for a computer to run software written in Java. The Java language, developed by Sun in 1995, is popular for internet-based applications and allows programmers to develop applications compatible with many types of computers, regardless of the operating system they run.
The dispute started when Microsoft, which has developed its own competing language and virtual machine, decided to drop JVM from its Windows XP product.
In its lawsuit, Sun claims that Microsoft has also forced developers to distribute products incompatible with Java. Therefore, according to Sun, developers are now turning to Microsoft's .Net platform.
Together with the lawsuit, Sun asked the court to issue a temporary order requiring Microsoft to ship JVM with each copy of Windows XP and Internet Explorer, claiming that, if it waited until the case was heard, it would be left far behind in the competition.
The court granted the order two days before Christmas, reasoning that Microsoft had gained an unfair advantage.
District Judge J. Frederick Motz said in his decision:
"If .Net proves itself to be a better product than Java, it should - and it will - predominate in the market... But if that occurs, it should be because of .Net's superior qualities, not because Microsoft leveraged its PC monopoly to create market conditions in which it is unfairly advantaged."
The ruling is preliminary and Microsoft must comply until the antitrust suit itself is heard before the court.
The court's decision is available at:
www.mdd.uscourts.gov/Opinions152/Opinions/SunPI1202.pdf