Take-up of Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is being hampered by its complexity and will get worse as competition with Microsoft's .Net platform intensifies, analysts have warned.

According to research from Meta Group, the battle between Java and .Net will remain intense for the next two years, even though many companies have selected Java as their platform for enterprise development.

Microsoft's solution will continue to gain market share and acceptance as an enterprise platform. However, the Java market will see rapid growth in open source application server adoption.

"During the next two years, open source application servers will gain share in the J2EE market, forcing further vendor consolidation. By 2006, Linux will become the preferred platform for J2EE execution," said Michael Barnes, vice president of Meta Group's technology research services.

The Java space is growing and consolidating at the same time, with three main players, IBM, BEA and Oracle, emerging as frontrunners, the analyst said.

Daniel Sholler, vice president and director of Meta Group's technology research services, said in a statement: "In terms of IT spending, J2EE application servers will remain core investments.

"Defining corporate application server development and deployment standards will help organisations better manage enterprise-wide application delivery to increase corporate agility and lower overall application life cycle costs by enabling server consolidation."