> It came several years later, after Microsoft was legally barred

That is an eloquent way of re-writing the history of Microsoft stealing Java and not being allowed to get away with it.

They didn't "steal" anything, iirc; they started as a legitimate licensee and then tried their usual embrace/extend/extinguish as "J++" (the EEE I mentioned). Sun sued for breach of license and won, barring Microsoft from extending Java outside of the (Sun-controlled) process. So they dropped it and built their own version, with blackjack and hookers.