I could be wrong here (I'm sure someone will correct me if I am) but as
Java programmers we would all have a version of the latest JVM on our machines anyway, so for us, no problem. This will affect the average (non-programmer) user. I'm assuming that they won't be able to view
applets, and I'm sure there are other consequences too. I suppose in turn this affects us again, since if it becomes apparent that the majority of people can't see applets, the market for them on websites will almost dissappear and the market for Java Developers may cool down. Of course we can still have
JSP and
Servlets and I don't think this will have a HUGE affect on the Java industry, I just think that Microsoft are making a rod for their own backs since people are going to start complaining if webpages don't come up properly.