We asked Sun for a statement about this deal and Eric Klein, Sun's VP of Java marketing, told us that "Sun carefully evaluates including value-added applications with the JRE on a number of levels - including business, technical, and user experience." Sun, according to Klein, found that Microsoft's toolbar provided a "great user experience." However, Klein also noted that "this agreement has favorable business terms for Sun."

Better User Experience?

It is arguable whether Live Search really provides a better user experience than Google Search (though the MSN Toolbar might actually be more useful for mainstream users than the Google Toolbar), but we can't help but wonder if the "favorable business terms" took precedence over the user experience here.

Market Share

It will probably take a few months before we can really say if this deal will really boost Live Search's market share, but according to Brad Goldberg, the general manager of Microsoft's Search Business Group, about 35% of all search queries on Live Search come from toolbars, the address bar, or search forms built into the browser. This indicates that this deal with Sun does indeed have the potential to drive more traffic to Microsoft's search engine, but it remains to be seen if users will go along with this switch.

On his blog, Schwartz revealed that Sun would soon be announcing a new set of MySQL support services. "Though many of the more traditional companies use MySQL," he wrote, "many have been waiting for a Fortune 500 vendor willing to step up, to provide mission critical global support." Previously, Sun sold support for competing open source database, PostgreSQL

Schwartz also talked about having "assembled all the core elements of a completely open source operating system for the internet." Sun's open source web development stack now includes Java, OpenSolaris, MySQL, and GlassFish. It would appear that Sun is hedging its future on open source (though the acronym is harder to pronounce than LAMP).

Though many industry watchers see the Sun acquisition as a smart move and great fit, some point out potential difficulties moving forward. Raven Zachary, an analyst at The 451 Group, thinks the purchase of MySQL "raises a whole bunch of issues concerning Sun's close ties to Oracle, as well as their investment in PostgreSQL." And Larry Dignan wonders, "if Sun makes MySQL more enterprise acceptable does that diminish its mojo with startups?"