Just that Sun won the Java ruling, a rumor from The Really Bad and Ugly News Department: Microsoft may buy Macromedia because they want the Flash/ColdFusion scripting platform to be of no use for the Java community.
Computerwire: "Flash would give Microsoft access to tools for building rich interfaces on both desktops and mobile devices, furthering .NET. An acquisition, though, would be seen as a hostile move deliberately designed to thwart J2EE uptake. Flash is a powerful and rich development environment which - through Macromedia's changes this year - took a step closer to J2EE. [...] The J2EE community sorely lacks a programming environment that can make Java more accessible to mainstream developers. [...] Macromedia, meanwhile, said it was bringing its estimated 300,000-strong community of developers to J2EE, potentially expanding the pool of J2EE programmers. A Microsoft acquisition of Macromedia would inevitably see Flash, and Macromedia's other cross-platform tools, tailored purely for Windows and .NET."
Dan Gilmor: "If this is true it will be a disaster for what's left of the software business. [...] Not that the antitrust authorities in Washington would care - they've made it clear that they are in favor of Microsoft's monopoly and whatever that produces in the so-called marketplace." And Jacob Nielsen still worries about Flash accessibility.
IN RELATED NEWS
Microsoft's Top 10 Challenges for 2003 - via Stefan Smalla
Comments are closed at the moment. I will post a blog entry as soon as they are available again.
