Sun had an opportunity to influence technology directions at Microsoft. They might have ended up with substantial leverage, even if they had less control over the direction of Java. Instead, they have guaranteed that Microsoft will apply its considerable resources to a technology Sun cannot control. If I am right, and .NET does end up “conquering the world” as it grows into a cross-platform unification technology, Sun’s lack of flexibility might be considered a strategic error on par with IBM’s decision to sign a non-exclusive agreement with a certain unknown software company in Washington state.

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