SUN MICROSYSTEMS ANNOUNCES FORTE FOR JAVA, RELEASE 2.0, SUPPORTING ENTRY-TO-ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

SUN MICROSYSTEMS ANNOUNCES FORTE FOR JAVA, RELEASE 2.0, SUPPORTING ENTRY-TO-ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

Just-in-Time Upgrades Possible With Dynamically Downloaded, Intelligent Plug-in Modules

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PALO ALTO, CA - December 11, 2000 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced Forte for Java, release 2.0, the latest version of the company's leading cross-platform development environment for building Internet services-based applications. Forte for Java, release 2.0 includes several new plug-in modules that make it easy for Java developers to build data-centric Internet applications.

The Forte for Java development environment features a modular architecture based on an open source framework (http://www.netbeans.org), supporting entry-level to enterprise-class developers. Users can step up to progressively more powerful features of the product as their needs evolve. The additional features can be dynamically downloaded via the Internet into the development environment. This enables developers to tackle more sophisticated projects using the same environment, leveraging their existing investment. Because the product is built on a common, publicly available code base, users benefit from the continuing enhancements and reliability inherent in an open source model.

"The industry is migrating to an open, services-centric application model," said Stans Kleijnen, Vice President, Forte Tools, Sun Microsystems. "Forte for Java customers can take advantage of a proven development environment that's available now to begin building Internet services-based applications. The 2.0 release features support for the latest version of JavaServer Pages software, which is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for developers building platform-independent, truly interactive Web pages."

"We especially like the modular design of Forte for Java, which allows for virtually seamless expansion and upgrades to the core product," said Sean Aitken, Codesmith, Interlan Technologies. "The other critical factor is that Forte for Java is based on open source, thereby avoiding any chance of vendor lock in. This also allows our team to write code that strictly conforms to standards that we know are compatible with other IDEs and development platforms."

"I evaluated every Java IDE available and none offered the flexibility and freedom of Forte for Java," said Tim Ferrell, Lead Developer at McGee Corporation. "Regardless of the project components -- JFC, JDBC, JSP, EJB, CORBA, XML -- Forte for Java gives us a powerful, world-class environment to quickly bring our designs to life and does not force a particular approach or limit our toolset choices."

Forte for Java -- New Features

New product features simplify the creation of Web-enabled applications, and include:

• JavaServer Page software creation and debugging -- JSP pages are rapidly becoming the preferred means of generating dynamic Web pages. Support for JSP 1.1 tag library editing and debugging speeds and simplifies the creation of JSP pages.
• Transparent persistence -- This capability lets developers access data from relational databases and other sources using Java programming, with no need to learn or switch to SQL programming for database access. This implementation of transparent persistence is based on the proposed Java Data Objects (JDO) standard, and provides a higher-level interface than JDBC or SQL. It presents an object view of the data and application and allows developers to treat database schema as Java persistent objects.
• Source code management -- Forte TeamWare, a source code control system, provides popular capabilities that simplify distributed team development. These include version control, build and release management, and problem management and tracking.

Forte for Java -- Editions

The Forte for Java integrated development environment (IDE) comes in multiple editions, which provide a convenient way of packaging specific plug-in modules for different types of developers. Currently, Sun offers two Forte for Java editions:

• Community Edition -- Designed for developers who require an intuitive Java IDE that simplifies the creation of JavaBeans architecture, applets and simple database connectivity. This edition is available at no charge for download at http://sun.com/forte/ffj/ce. Community Edition has already generated nearly 600,000 downloads.
• Internet Edition -- Designed for professional developers creating Web-enabled applications in support of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition. Plug-in modules simplify the creation of JSP pages, support transparent persistence and streamline team development. This edition will be available for download at http://sun.com/forte/ffj/ie for US$495 and is expected to be available at http://flashline.com.

Availability and Platform Support

Forte for Java, release 2.0, which is currently in beta, is slated for general availability in January 2001. Forte for Java is cross-platform compatible, enabling development on the Solaris Operating Environment, Linux and Windows platforms. For more information on Forte products, please visit: http://sun.com/forte.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $17.6 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.

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Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, The Network Is The Computer, Forte, Java, JavaServer Pages, JSP, JDBC, JavaBeans and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries.

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PR Contacts for Press and Analysts:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. CHEN PR for Sun Robert Bruno (408) 517-5535 robert.bruno@sun.com Barbara Heffner (781) 466-8282 bheffner@chenpr.com

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