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IBM is pulling the plug on its JavaOS for Business software and is likely also to kill its Lotus eSuite - both because of dwindling sales of network computers.

 Network computers are desktop devices designed as an alternative to personal computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems.

 The move comes as hardware makers such as Compaq Computer and Wyse Technologies prepare products to target the emerging Windows-based terminal market.

 IBM told Tech Post it was killing off JavaOS for Business but would not confirm reports that Lotus' eSuite also would go.

 JavaOS for Business, which IBM was developing jointly with Sun Microsystems, was supposed to ship with both companies' next-generation thin clients.

 Analysts were stunned at its demise, saying it was a viable platform that had customers.

 'IBM has a lot of customers that have bought into it [JavaOS for Business] as a replacement for 3270 and 5250 terminals,' said Anne Thomas, an analyst with The Patricia Seybold Group. 'IBM really pushed the manageability. It was a really nice solution.'  IBM's statement to Tech Post implies the two companies feel there no longer is a need for the special-purpose OS they created just a year ago.

 'Significant improvements in Java run-time performance, wide industry adoption and support for Java technologies, and the continued success of the Netscape browser have allowed other general-purpose operating systems to also become viable platforms for thin clients,' it said.

 'IBM and Sun will leverage these trends and transition future thin client efforts to a general-purpose operating system. We will continue to support our JavaOS for Business customers during the transition.'  Last week, IBM moved 100 software developers for Lotus' eSuite programs to other projects.

 The eSuite programs, introduced with great fanfare in 1997, like JavaOS for Business are geared for network computers. The eSuite and Sun's HotJava browser formed the desktop for JavaOS for Business.

 'ESuite has disappeared from the radar screen,' said Greg Blatnik, an analyst at Zona Research in California. 'It doesn't seem to fit in the marketplace anywhere except in particular IBM installations.'  Microsoft's quick reaction to the network-computer threat by releasing Windows Terminal Server helped derail sales of the devices, analysts said.



IBM to kill off JavaOS for Business and maybe eSuite