Microsoft's promising that it will provide a sneak peek at the "gaming specific portions" (more than just DirectX, we'd assume) of its "Longhorn" next-gen Windows client at the upcoming Meltdown U.S. show in Seattle. Microsoft's also dangling the Halo 2 carrot to entice gamers to wait until next April for the new version of its popular game. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Sun Microsystems talked up gaming this week at JavaOne, committing to open-source gaming-related graphics and networking components of its technology.