What? Java has been around since it's first incarnation as Oak in 1991. How is this "bleeding edge" technology? Well, it seems that Java is finally carving a real niche for itself in the PC world. Before, the only Java things most of us saw were the little goodies bundled in with the Web pages we browsed (we often cursed those same apps, as they slow down the speed at which the pages load in our machines). Netscape 2.0 was the first browser to support Java apps, and was where most of us encountered Java programming for the first time. The hype that Java would replace Windows (or the Mac OS) is pretty much over with. Now it is running more and more software applications, and while the "write once, run anywhere" slogan is still more hype than reality, Java looks to have made a place for itself as a programming tool as well as a source for neato applets that jazz up a Web page. Java as a stand-alone OS is probably not going to happen, but the next wave of PC-dom is going to rely more and more on Java-produced applications that run equally well on Unix/Linux, Windows, and Mac-powered PCs.

For Windows users, ActiveX [the competition from Microsoft] will dominate interactive Web sites for the foreseeable future, but Windows users who write off Java are missing the boat. Sun is rolling out JINI, software technology designed to make the network connection of devices such as pagers and cellular phones easy (currently called Webtone; Microsoft has a competitive concept in the works called Wintone, and look for Java-powered phones from Nextel, among others); already their purchase of Impact, a Web browser designed for use in devices other than computers, is making waves. Java-powered "smart cards" are being touted as "universal access devices" -- think ATM-like cards for your use everywhere from hotels to restaurants to pay phones.
 

HotJava 3.0 is a Java-powered Web browser that seems to be in perpetual beta, but has plenty of fans. JavaOS is a spinoff from Sun that is designed to work on handhelds, in cars, and with TVs; a business version from IBM and Sun is designed specifically for corporate users. Additionally, Sun is promoting its JavaPC Engine, a hunk of software designed to allow older PCs with 286, 386, and 486 chips to run modern Java-based apps. Sun has also released its Java Development Kit 1.3, an upgrading and streamlining of the original Java and Java 1.2 that attempts to deal with earlier problems such as slow runtimes, difficult development, and patchy security. IBM in particular is really putting its chips behind the new Java. Now if Sun and Microsoft would quit their pissing contest and settle down...