AN FRANCISCO, June 11 — Sun Microsystems moved a step closer today to making its Java programming language a force in personal computing when Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer agreed to include Java software with their desktop and laptop computers.

Industry executives and analysts have viewed the inclusion of Java as a standard software component on personal computers as an indicator of the effectiveness of the antitrust settlement the Justice Department reached last year with Microsoft.

Under the terms of the agreement among Microsoft, the Justice Department and most of the states that participated in the 1998 antitrust trial, Microsoft is prohibited from pressuring computer makers over the software they include with their machines.

Microsoft distributed an earlier version of Java but it stopped when Sun brought an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft. Today's announcement, made by Sun at its JavaOne software conference here, represents a step forward from that setback.

Java is an advanced programming language that was originally designed to make possible the use of programs on many different kinds of computers easily. Microsoft has viewed Java as a competitive threat.

Sun executives said the decision by the two leading PC sellers would give Java an important advantage in personal computers. Sun has made Java a dominant force in the corporate server market, as well as in consumer products like cellular phones and hand-held personal digital assistants, but it says it has lagged behind in the PC market as a result of Microsoft's resistance to Java.

"The back and forth with Microsoft has limited the success of Java on the personal computer desktop," said Richard Green, vice president for development platforms at Sun. "It is remarkable that the two largest computer makers have committed to Java for their customers."

Sun has already announced agreements with the Linux software vendors Red Hat and Lindows.com, as well as with Apple Computer. Under the new agreement, Hewlett-Packard and Dell will ship a version of a software module called the Java Runtime Environment with their computers beginning in the third quarter of this year.

Having the component preinstalled on personal computers makes it possible for users to run Java programs that are sent via the Internet without having to install additional software.