Sun, BEA, and Microsoft all losing key staff to Google

What do Sun's Joshua Bloch, BEA's Adam Bosworth, and three developers from Microsoft's team including Joe Beda, the lead developer on Avalon, have in common? The answer is that all left their respective employers recently... to join Google.

The big question now exercizing the technology community is: what are they up to?

Speculation is rife, given their respective talents, that they may be part of a concerted Googleplan to out-Microsoft Microsoft in the browser space, by devising a rival to Internet Explorer.

According to the New York Post this week, rumors that Google was developing a Mozilla-based browser have been fueled by Google's holding of a recent Mozilla event on its campus:

"Last month, Google hosted Mozilla Developer Day on its campus, a gathering of programmers that work together to build sequels to the re-named Netscape browser. Mozilla... could be shaped to Google's specifications and be embedded with Google search, Gmail free e-mail and other Google applications."

The New York Post also noted that Google may be pursuing a broader concept, one similar to the "network computer" envisioned by Oracle chief Larry Ellison during a speech in 1995:

"The idea is that companies or consumers could buy a machine that costs only about $200, or less, but that has very little hard drive space and almost no software. Instead, users would access a network through a browser and access all their programs and data there."

The concept floundered, but programmers note that Google could easily pick up the ball. Already, its Gmail free e-mail system gives users 100 megabytes of storage space on a remote network - providing consumers a virtual hard drive."

One technology observer with a yen for research "took a guess and did a whois search for Gbrowser.com."

Indeed Google is listed as the registrant, snagging the name on April 24 of this year.