• Windows only runs on Windows, which makes it more consistent.
• Windows aims at making software simple.
• Microsoft’s market power will enable it to price .Net software more cheaply than Java products. Windows developers are easier to find and less costly to employ than Java programmers.
• Windows risk factors: Microsoft isn’t going out of business, but it does have single-vendor control over product and pricing.
• Java is flexible, running on any operating system.
• Java is focused on making it complete.
• Java systems will have more enterprise support with multi-platform options for customers that need to integrate a lot of existing applications.
• Java risk factors: An individual Java vendor may go out of business, but companies are not under the thumb of a single powerful vendor. However, the Java standard remains under Sun’s control and requires Sun and the Java community to approve any changes.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Climbing the ladder of f/f/s technology
