The Sun-Google partnership

Last updated on: October 7, 2005 at 7:13 pm by Desh Kapoor

The Sun-Google partnership 2005-10-07T19:13:19-05:00 Desh Kapoor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

URL Link:

http://news.com.com/FAQ+The+Sun-Google+partnership/2100-1012_3-5888783.html

Highlights:

Tuesday’s (October 4) alliance between Google and Sun Microsystems is a significant development for both companies and for the computing industry.

But there’s a big difference in scope between the grand “multiyear, strategic agreement” the companies heralded at a press conference Tuesday and the much narrower particulars they actually announced. To make matters more confusing, some of the technology involved is complex, and executives hinted at other elements of cooperation beyond what was in the press release.

What specific move did Sun and Google announce Tuesday?
Within 30 days, Sun will begin distributing the Google Toolbar with its Java software when people download the latter from Sun’s Web site. Sun will get “direct monetary value” from the distribution deal, said John Loiacono, Sun’s executive vice president for software. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that what separates the Toolbar distribution deal from others the company has is the “vastness” of it. Sun CEO Scott McNealy said the Java software is downloaded 20 million times per month.

The Google Toolbar provides a quick link from Web browsers to Google’s search engine and other features. Sun’s Java provides a software foundation that lets a program run on different types of personal computers.

Google also committed to buying more Sun servers, though Schmidt refused to detail how many or what type. That’s significant, given the search giant’s prestige as an Internet company and its reliance so far on machines it has built itself.

That sounds like a tactical agreement, not a strategic agreement. Is there more?
Sun and Google mostly remained mum, but several executives mentioned other areas of partnership:

• Google, already a member of the Java Community Process steering committee, will become more active.

• Sun and Google will engage in joint marketing activities as well as joint research and development.

• Pending agreement of project programmers, Sun will add a Google search bar to OpenOffice.org, an office software suite Sun turned into open-source software in 2000.

• Google will help Sun with OpenSolaris, its open-source version of the Solaris operating system.

• Sun will continue to buy ads through Google. And Google will help distribute OpenOffice.

Solaris, OpenOffice, Java, open-source software–is there anything in the partnership that isn’t aimed directly at Microsoft?
Not really. Java competes with Microsoft’s .Net and Windows, OpenOffice competes with Microsoft Office, Solaris competes with Windows, and the Google Toolbar provides access to Google online services that compete with Microsoft’s MSN.

Schmidt ducked discussions of Microsoft competition, but Sun President Jonathan Schwartz didn’t: “Do you see Google joining forces with Microsoft on the evolution of .Net? Last I checked, no,” Schwartz said in an interview. And he said that both companies are pushing freely downloadable open-source software in part because “both of us want to ensure it does not cost you $500 to get access to the Internet.”

But didn’t Sun bury the hatchet with Microsoft last year? Aren’t they now working together?
Indeed, McNealy and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer signed an agreement in April 2004 that settled Sun’s Java-related antitrust lawsuit, shared patents and led to promises of software interoperability. That agreement was the result of customer demands, the companies took pains to emphasize: Many objected to technology from two major suppliers that couldn’t get along. In contrast, Google and Sun are in many ways two sides of the same coin, and Tuesday’s deal with Google began with conversations with the companies’ engineers.

The difference is illustrated in how McNealy described the two deals. Regarding Google, he said: “I think it’s a very natural partnership here. It shouldn’t surprise people that we’re back on stage.” As for Microsoft, he said: “I think it was a required partnership, and the customers wanted it. I got hammered until we announced that.”

Is there anything to this deal that’s more revolutionary than developing, distributing and promoting each other’s software?
Perhaps, but executives were reluctant to say much about the possibilities to rework how people use computing services. Even though Sun and Google have plenty of software that runs on personal computers, the companies also are working in their own way to build a world of rich computing services available on the Internet. The boundaries between PC software and network-based computing services are blurring, Schmidt said, but he offered no details about what that means. McNealy was more sweeping, but equally short on specifics: “We’re working on bringing this network-is-the-computer, Net services environment.”

But some see Tuesday’s announcement as evidence that a network-centric vision of the future is coming. “For many years, Scott McNealy…talked about the network replacing the PC as the platform. In hindsight, his pitch was much too early,” Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Citigroup Research, wrote in a research note. “However, today’s announcement indicates that perhaps the Internet can become the platform for applications delivery.”

Source:
News.com

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 7, 2005

- AOL buys Weblogs

Next Post

October 7, 2005 Lenovo bundles StarOffice

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aarti Achievement and Leadership AfPak Africa Annual and Year-end Asia Audio Australia Behavioural Sciences Bhagwad Gita Bhagwad Gita Blogging Blogs Business Business Intelligence Business Strategy Cannes Careers Chanakya China Conservation Corruption Creative Daily Links Desh Poems Development & Welfare Devotional Audio Devotional Songs Drama Earth Economics Education Entertainment Environment Europe Everyday Quotes Featured Articles Featured Songs Finance Flickr Pictures Food Geo-Political Global Warming Globalization Health & Medicine Hinduism Historic History Humour India Indian Culture Indian music Indian Weddings Israel Issues Legal Link Love Minorities Misc Motivation and Personal Development Movie Lists Movie Reviews Movies Mumbai terror attacks Natural Disasters Nature News Outsourcing Pakistan Parenting Personal Philosophy Poetry Politics Poverty Quotes Recipe Regular Blog Post Relationships Religion Religious/Spiritual Audio Sciences Showcase Slideshow South Asia Special Stories Spiritual Quotes Spirituality Sports Stories Strategy Technology Technology Terrorism Travel Uncategorized US Video Women Women_s Rights Worship Yoga

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did fire from heaven consume to prove Elijah's God was real?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The temple A golden calf Sacrifice on Mount Carmel A chariot