Bill Gates details the success of Win32 and limitations of Java

The night Microsoft announced sweeping support for Java and several newJava tools, CEO Bill Gates told developers that Microsoft's Win32 andInternet software was "selling like gangbusters."

"We're focused on developers' success. That's how the PC industry has donewell, and that's how Microsoft has done well," Gates told an crowd at the Moscone Convention Center that flowed into the aisles. "We want feedback from developers, not a religious feud."

Among the statistics Gates shared with the crowd:

Gates also downplayed--somewhat accurately--Java as "just another programming language." He said that Microsoft plans to provide the same level of support for Java that it has provided for other languages, such as C++ and Visual Basic.

"Our goal is very simple: to deliver the fastest, most functional Java technology," said Gates.

Java's staunchest defenders try to cast the language as a suite of technologies that will eventually overtake Windows, but Gates sees it assimply another way to get work done. Primarily in Windows, at that.

"Ever since I've been programming, there's been this search for the perfectprogramming language," Gates said. "Was it LISP, was it Smalltalk?