The world's largest computer maker -- legendary for once requiring its salesmen to wear starched white shirts and blue suits -- has had a presence in Silicon Valley since the 1940s, with two prestigious research centres, one in the hills above Almaden Valley, and its storage systems division in San Jose.

Only in the past year, however, has IBM really made its presence felt in Silicon Valley with a focus on the Internet and the Java programming language. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM now has about 8,600 employees in the San Francisco Bay area, the bulk of them in its storage systems division.

Last year, IBM moved its Java development group here as part of its embrace of the so-called "write once, run anywhere" programminglanguage developed by workstation computer company Sun Microsystems Inc that lets programmers write applications that can run on any kind of computer system.

For IBM, Java acts like a glue to connect its disparate systems, from mainframes to its network stations, in a networked world.

"If anyone had a strong argument for Java as a strategic platform, IBM has co-opted the ownership of this product," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Giga Information Group.

"Sun does not need Java because they are a single platform company. IBM needs Java... of the two companies, they are the ones more likely to make Java successful."

Earlier this summer, IBM opened a distinctly casual office on DeAnza Boulevard, across the street from Apple Computer Inc and a few buildings away from some Sun offices. IBM's Centre for Java technology has a pool table, wide airy windows and an outdoor eating area for its casually attired employees, most of them programmers dressed in black.

The Centre for Java technology is alsodown the street from the former offices of Taligent, IBM's ill-fated software joint venture with Apple Computer Inc. But IBM appears to be more focused this time.

"I have 3,000 professionals working on Java worldwide,"said Pat Sueltz, general manager of IBM's Java Software business. "We are executing very very quickly on getting all the products out."

For example, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun and IBM announced the development of an operating system for Java called Java OS for Business in April and the companies started shipping the product in August.

The software can be used by companies such as airlines, banks and call centres, which need to access data on big mainframes from either a PC or a scaled-down network computer that can run desktop applications such as electronic mail.

"For IBM to have gotten behind Java the way they did and for them to have made a decision to turn around the `not invented here' mentality... reflects a huge change in their corporate psyche," said Rick Ross, president of theJava Lobby, a group of 24,300 Java developers.

"It's so enormous for them to say 'We now understand our future now involves relationships even with one- or two-person shops,'" Ross said. IBM is seen by some in the industry as having a bigger impact on the grass-roots development of Java programming than Sun, because it has no proprietary claims on the software.

Meanwhile, Sun is embroiled in a complicated lawsuit with its biggest foe, Microsoft Corp, which it has sued for breach of contract in its licensing of Java from Sun. IBM has a major educational initiative in which it is seeking to cultivate current and future skilled Java programmers. It has an academic programme supported by 835 schools worldwide that helps professors teach Java in the classroom.

The company also is opening up testing centres around the world, called the IBM Solution Studio for Java. Software developers can come in and test their applications on a wide range of computer systems, from IBM mainframes to workstations byHewlett-Packard Co and systems by competitors such as Compaq Computer Corp and others, for free.

"IBM is putting a lot of effort into fostering the growth of a genuine Java independent software vendor community," said Brett Adam, president of Verve Inc, a San Francisco-based developer of Java workflow software to streamline business processes.

"They're not discriminating too much between the small and the large either," Adam said. "They're working hard to support some of the smallest developers and start-ups in this space."