Software giant Microsoft has tried to stop a US court order forcing it to include Sun Microsystem's Java technology into Windows XP.

Sun had won an injunction in its $1bn court case against Microsoft, requiring it to include the latest version of Java into Windows XP and related systems.

In its appeal, Microsoft said that the ruling was flawed because Sun was unable to prove "immediate and irreparable harm", a standard required for preliminary injunctions.

The Java technology enables computer programmers to run their software on all types of computers, whether they use Windows, Apple's Mac OS or another operating system.

Sun said it could not wait until the court case was over, because by then Java could have been killed off.

Monopoly

According to Sun, Java is damaged each day the injunction is not imposed because the market is currently favouring Microsoft's .NET framework.

Sun accuses Microsoft of trying to maintain a monopoly by unlawfully distributing outdated Java versions that are not compatible for Windows users.

Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the court order "unnecessarily intervenes in the free operation of the marketplace and does not serve the public interest."

Lawyers at California-based Sun Microsystems were reviewing the filing and planned a response on 7 March, a spokeswoman said.

Microsoft will then be given until 18 March to respond.