Sun and Microsoft reveal web plans

Users will develop applications using web services tools

Sun Microsystems and Microsoft have revealed details of rival plans to help users develop applications using web services technologies.

Sun chief executive Scott McNealy has announced a set of enhancements to the Java-based Sun One portfolio. They include a starter kit with products for developers to create web services applications, instant messaging tools in the iPlanet portal server, and an upgrade to the Solaris 8 operating system.

McNealy also announced a three-year web services roadmap. The release of Solaris 9 and enhancements to Forte development tools and the iPlanet directory server are all on the agenda. Sun will release technologies for dynamic web services applications, accessible through web-based public directories in 2003.

The company's challengers include other Java-based offerings from the likes of IBM, but the most vocal advocate of web services is Microsoft with its .Net strategy.

Microsoft announced a three-tier pricing structure for its .Net My Services, formerly known as Hailstorm, at its Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles last week.

Services include Passport authentication and .Net Alerts, which developers can access from their own applications built with .Net tools. Users can access these without charge, but will have to pay for a service level agreement to ensure application compatibility, availability and bug testing.

For small-scale applications there will be an annual fee of $1,000 and a charge of $250 per application. The charges rise to $10,000 annually and $1,500 per application for mid-range business services. Large enterprise-level applications charges will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

"We want to make it very inexpensive for developers to work with these services and deploy them within an organisation," said Bob Muglia, group vice president of Microsoft's services platform division.