Since then, he has written 11 more novels, including Jurassic Park, Rising Sun and Disclosure, all of which were transformed into box office hits.

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Kevin Hause, who tracks interactive business for IDC, thinks that it is too soon to say whether Sun will be able to dominate the cable set-top box market, as cable operators are hedging their bets on various operating systems.

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"Sun has become a premier software provider to the set-top box market, and enjoys a good reputation in the cable industry, " says Cynthia Brumfield, a senior analyst at Paul Kagan Associates.

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With the potential set-top box market expected to be five times the size of that for personal computers, Sun sees a bigger opportunity in this marketplace, Brumfield adds.

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