On Monday, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems presented Judge J. Frederick Motz with the joint proposal he had requested; the proposal includes details about how Microsoft will implement Sun's Java technology in Windows. After receiving the proposal, Judge Motz issued his final injunction order against Microsoft, requiring the company to bundle Java in Windows within 120 days. Microsoft has said repeatedly that it will appeal the decision, and Judge Motz has given the company a 2-week reprieve before the injunction takes effect so that an appellate court has time to hear Microsoft's appeal.
"The parties have worked together over the past couple of days to craft language that is responsive to the court's guidance," said Microsoft spokesperson Jim Desler, although he didn't offer any details about how the companies will implement Java in Windows. According to an earlier ruling, Microsoft will add Java to Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).
Assuming the appellate court denies Microsoft's appeal, Microsoft and Sun will work together to implement Java in XP while Sun continues its $1 billion lawsuit against the software giant. Sun's original lawsuit charged Microsoft with illegally harming Java by using its monopoly OS power to limit Java's distribution and "polluting" the Java market with incompatible Java versions.
