The JavaStation was a

Network Computer The Network Computer (or NC) was a diskless desktop computer device made by Oracle Corporation from about 1996 to 2000. The devices were designed and manufactured by an alliance, which included Sun Microsystems, IBM, and others. The devices w ...

(NC) developed by

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...

between 1996 and 2000, intended to run only

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

applications. The hardware is based on the design of the Sun

SPARCstation The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines are a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and server (computing), servers in desktop, desk side (pedestal) and rack-based form factor configurations, that were developed and sold ...

series, a very successful line of

UNIX Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...

workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...

s. The JavaStation, as an NC, lacks a

hard drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

floppy A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined wi ...

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

drive. It also differs from other Sun systems in having PS/2 keyboard and mouse interfaces and a

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can no ...

monitor connector.

Models

There were several models of the JavaStation produced, some being pre-production variants produced in very small numbers. Production models comprised: * JavaStation-1 (part number JJ-xx), codenamed ''Mr. Coffee'': based on a 110 MHz MicroSPARC IIe CPU, this was housed in a cuboidal Sun "unidisk" enclosure. * JavaStation-NC or JavaStation-10 (part number JK-xx) codenamed ''Krups'': a redesigned ''Mr. Coffee'' with a 100 MHz MicroSPARC IIep CPU and enhanced video resolution and color capabilities. ''Krups'' was housed in a striking curved vertically oriented enclosure. Models produced only as prototypes or in limited numbers included: * JavaStation/''Fox'': a prototype of the ''Mr Coffee'': essentially a repackaged SPARCstation 4 Model 110. * JavaStation-E (part number JE-xx) codenamed ''Espresso'': a ''Krups'' with

PCI PCI may refer to: Business and economics * Payment card industry, businesses associated with debit, credit, and other payment cards ** Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security requirements for credit card processors * Pro ...

slots and a non-functional ATA interface in a restyled enclosure. * ''Dover'': a JavaStation based on

PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. ...

hardware, with a

Cyrix Cyrix Corporation was a microprocessor developer that was founded in 1988 in Richardson, Texas, as a specialist supplier of floating point units for 286 and 386 microprocessors. The company was founded by Tom Brightman and Jerry Rogers. In 19 ...

MediaGXm CPU. * JavaEngine-1: an

ATX ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) is a motherboard and power supply configuration specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve on previous de facto standards like the AT design. It was the first major change in desktop computer enclo ...

form-factor version of ''Krups'' for

embedded systems An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' as ...

. * A

68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general ...

-based system designed by Diba, Inc. (later acquired by Sun) circa 1996, which could be considered a very early JavaStation-like system. In addition, Sun envisioned a third-generation "Super JavaStation" after ''Krups'', with a JavaChip co-processor for native Java bytecode execution. This doesn't appear to have been produced. The JavaStation concept was superseded by the

Sun Ray The Sun Ray was a stateless thin client computer (and associated software) aimed at corporate environments, originally introduced by Sun Microsystems in September 1999 and discontinued by Oracle Corporation in 2014. It featured a smart card r ...

series of

thin client In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as ''network computers'', or in th ...

terminals.

Operating systems

The JavaStation comes with

JavaOS JavaOS is an operating system based on a Java virtual machine and predominantly used on SIM cards to run applications on behalf of operators and security services. It was originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Unlike Microsoft Windows, Windows, ...

in the

flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...

, but it is also possible to install

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

NetBSD NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is a ...

on the JavaStation.

References

JavaStation Linux HOWTO

{{Sun Microsystems Sun workstations Network computer (brand) SPARC microprocessor products Computer-related introductions in 1996