Sun Microsystems to sue Microsoft for $1bn

Sun Microsystems is to sue rival Microsoft for more than $1bn (€1.14bn), alleging anti-competitive behaviour on Java programming language.

The California based company accuses Microsoft of making the Windows XP operating system incompatible with Sun's Java programming language.

Last year a federal court found that Microsoft abused its monopoly power.

Sun accuses its rival of "extensive anti-competitive conduct" that also forces other companies to distribute products that don't work with Java, effectively killing it.

Microsoft spokesman Matt Pilla declined to comment.