Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 16:41:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Marianne Mueller <Marianne.Mueller@Eng>
Subject: Re: RMI on MS Internet Explorer
To: java-security@web2.javasoft.com, mbell@informatik.hu-berlin.de
>From Microsoft's website, http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/java3.htm,
Q. Is Microsoft required to ship RMI?
RMI is not an issue as it was posted on Microsoft's Internet site before Sun
filed its lawsuit. Sun has confirmed publicly that this is all Microsoft
is obligated to do with RMI.
If you go to http://www.microsoft.com/java/resource/misc.htm and click on
the RMI link, it takes you to an ftp download page. there's a file named
rmi.zip that you could put on the classpath used by IE4. It would be
more convenient if they'd include it with IE4. You could write Microsoft
and tell them you'd like to see them support RMI fully in IE. If you go
to www.microsoft.com and click on "Write Us" you'll eventually get to
a form.
Alan Baratz, president of Java Software, is quoted on the java.sun.com
web site as saying on Oct 7 1997
"JNI and RMI are fully implemented in the JDK 1.1 reference implementation
from Sun. Any licensee that ships an implementation of JDK 1.1
is required to support these interfaces because these interfaces are
required to pass the compatibility test that they are contractually obligated
to pass. At this point in time Microsoft is shipping IE 4 with what they
claim to be compatible JDK 1.1 but it does not pass the compatibility
test specifically in the areas of JNI and RMI."
JNI is the Java Native Interface.
One option you have is to use the Java Plug-In instead of IE's Java VM and
class libraries. The plugin works with Netscape's browsers and Microsoft's
browsers. See http://java.sun.com/products/plugin