An alternative graphics library called the Internet Foundation Classes was developed in more platform-independent code by Netscape.
At the same time, another graphics library, called Application Foundation Classes (AFC), was developed independently by Microsoft.
It was made to be easier to extend the graphic components, but was primarily aimed for use with the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine.
On April 2, 1997, Sun Microsystems and Netscape announced their intention to combine IFC with other technologies to form the "Java Foundation Classes".
[1] The "Java Foundation Classes" were later renamed "Swing", adding the capability for a pluggable look and feel of the widgets.