SAN FRANCISCO (05-24-95) - ~At SunWorld '95 here this week, Sun Microsystems Inc. unveiled its new Internet products and got a ringing endorsement from Netscape Inc., which will license the company's multimedia Internet programming language, Java.
Using the theme of "Netropolis," with elements borrowed from film noir of the 1940s and Fritz Lang's film "Metropolis," the company pitched products including a new version of its Netra Internet server bundle, a new security product called SunScreen, the Java object-oriented programming language for interactive World Wide Web applications and the HotJava browser.
In a useful endorsement, Sun announced that NetScape, which owns a popular World Wide Web browser, will license the new Java technology. Java enables the creation of miniature applications, or applets, that can perk up home pages with animation, music and graphics effects. Future versions of Netscape will incorporate Java functionality.
"It's very safe, very high in performance, very network-aware and very open. I see a great future for Java and Netscape technology," said Marc Andreesson, founder and CEO of Netscape Inc.
The other products included an Internet Gateway for the Solaris operating system, which means that OEMs and systems integrators can build Internet applications for Intel PCs running the Solaris operating system. The new SolarNetPC Internet client, using the NetScape browser, gives Internet connectivity to Windows PC users. The company also launched an upgrade to its Solstice Firewall-1 Internet security product.
Sun hopes that interest in the interactive glamor of Java applications, which can display real-time stock tickers or enable users to manipulate three-dimensional objects, will give it the pole position in the race to dominate the emerging market for commerce on the Web.
Another part of the strategy is to convince business users that they can trust the Internet with mission-critical data. The company already sells Solstice Firewall-1, but a new product, Solstice SunScreen, is designed to enable users to build mission-critical virtual private networks across the Internet.
However, SunScreen may be difficult to use outside the US, because its public key cryptography is subject to US government export restrictions.
"It's exportable, but on a per customer, per country basis," said Eric Schmidt, chief technology officer at Sun.
"Some countries, like France, don't allow anything, except maybe pig Latin. If we could ban encryption and have everybody be nice, that would be great, but that's not the real world," said Sun CEO Scott McNealy.
Though users seemed to enjoy Sun's glitzy presentation, some were skeptical about the speed at which businesses would adopt even the most powerful Internet access technology.
"We're looking into HotJava. I'm impressed with the line of network products that they have shown today," said Randall Tinkess, software engineering manager at Mitchell International in San Diego, Calif., which provides software for the automobile and insurance industries.
"The products and the partnerships are interesting -- [but] how many my company will be buying over the next 12 months, I don't know. Selling the Internet into corporate America, and giving the right level of trust, is another question," said Mark Haag, systems programmer with UPS Airlines in Louisville, Ky.
"In the future, the Internet is just going to be a utility. How fast that happens depends on what businesses think: If businesses don't buy it, it's going to be no big deal," said Haag.
"HotJava was fantastic. Netscape licensing Java was the story -- if they say it's going to be secure, then I'd believe them," said Chris Grere, systems programmer with EG&G, a government contractor that provides emergency operations centers. "The Microsoft Network is also going to try to counter this. It will be fun to watch."
Sun demonstrated how seriously it is taking the emerging market for commerce on the World Wide Web -- and which company it regards as its principle opponent -- when it ribbed Microsoft Corp.'s planned on-line service at a lavish theatrical performance at the George Coates Theater here. An invited audience of Sun worshippers wore 3-D glasses and watched a multimedia show with live rock music called The Bandwidth Addict.
The evil and closed Internet world of Universal Clone Systems, led by Gates-figure Bob, in a pointed reference to Microsoft's new social interface of the same name, tried to co-opt the show's band on to his proprietary network. According to Sun's script, the power of Java will ensure that freedom and multimedia Java applets win in the end.
Sun Microsystems, based in Mountain View, Calif., can be reach at (415) 786-8371.
[Copyright 1995 IDG News Service, International Data Group Inc. All rights reserved.]