Microsoft Shoots Down Plan To Support Unified Enterprise JavaBeans

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March 20, 1998 (10:23 AM EST)

Microsoft Shoots Down Plan To Support Unified Enterprise JavaBeans

NEW YORK -- As Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and IBM prepare to announce unified support for Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) at next week's JavaOne conference, Microsoft, to no one's surprise, said it will not support the new server-side object component model.

Speaking on a panel at the Internet Application Developers show here in New York Thursday, an IBM official said common support for EJB will ease the interoperability of server-side objects. Alistar Rennie, an IBM marketing executive for the company's Component Broker, asked Don Chouinard, Microsoft's manager for object marketing, if the Redmond, Wash., software giant will support EJB. Chouinard said emphatically, "No."

A packed room of application developers and IT managers attending the session pressed the Microsoft official to explain why. The reason, Chouinard said, is "Enterprise JavaBeans is in its infancy. It is a spec. There is no shipping software. I apologize for the fact that there are differences in the world. We think some server platforms are better than others, and we'd like you to buy ours."

He said Microsoft's Component Object Model has been available for years, and accused Mountain View, Calif.-based Sun of copying it when coming up with EJB. "Where did most of the contents of the spec come from? From reading COM documentation," Chouinard said.

In an interview after the session, IBM's Rennie said Microsoft's position is of little surprise, but described it as unfortunate. "They are left with an important vendor that does not want to play in the game. In many ways, it won't matter, because Microsoft's component story is very much a client-based strategy."

Observers said it is a forgone conclusion that COM and EJB will have to coexist. "I think it's a good thing. The more choices the better," said Phillip Wilkerson, technical architect with the retail chain The Gap. "There are plenty of good bridges from companies like Iona and Bea that link the two environments."