But the IE Java is a pacified Java that plays nice with the Windows desktop APIs and Microsoft Foundation Classes. That's the whole point, after all. An open ISO Java standard, without strong ISO oversight, would give Microsoft free reign in the ongoing political struggle for control of the standard. And, at the same time, a Sun-owned Java standard with weak ISO oversight would be little more than a sanctioned oligopoly, which won't do anyone a whole hell of a lot of good, either. There's no such thing as an open standard, just standards which enough powerful players agree to support.
Standards organizations are hotbeds of partisanship, and that's fine.
I'll throw my hat in the ring for pure competition. Sun should withdraw Java from the standards committee. Let's see Sun step up to the plate and drive the ball right back into Bill Gates' face. Make him duck. That is what Scott McNealy likes to pretend he's doing with all his jabs at Microsoft's dominance.