Microsoft Corp. filled more of the gaps in its portfolio of software and tools for building Web-based applications that run on handheld computers, cell phones and other mobile devices.
The company released a second test version of its .Net Compact Framework, a runtime engine that allows .Net applications to run on small Windows devices, such as those running the Pocket PC operating system. Microsoft also announced that it has commenced a closed beta program for the next version of its Visual Studio .Net development software, code-named Everett. That beta software includes the .Net Compact Framework and a series of “smart-device extensions” that help developers write applications for mobile devices.
Java technology brouhaha not over for Domino users
An open source project designed to replace Java technology originally expected to be in the next version of Lotus’ Domino collaboration software will not be completed in time – as some users hoped – to coincide with the shipment of Version 6 in two weeks.
However, Lotus plans to release details on how Domino and parent company IBM Corp.’s WebSphere Application Server will be combined to provide, without additional cost to Domino users, the Java technology that was yanked. In January, Lotus caused a firestorm among customers when it pulled from the Domino 6 feature list a technology called Garnet that supported Java Server Pages (JSP) and let Domino function as a Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) server.
BEA upgrades Java software for Intel servers
Application server maker BEA Systems Inc. has released a major upgrade to its Java virtual machine (JVM) for servers based on Intel Corp. processors, citing growing interest among its customers for standard, low-cost hardware.
Most of BEA’s customers run its software on Unix servers from the likes of Sun Microsystems Inc., using a JVM from Sun or from Hewlett-Packard Co. But BEA expects demand for its software on Intel-based servers running Windows or Linux to grow “dramatically” in the next few years and needed to offer its own JVM for those customers, said Bob Griswold, a BEA vice president and general manager. BEA acquired its JRockit JVM in February from Appeal Virtual Machines AB of Sweden and has been working with Intel to improve it. JRockit 7.0 is available for 32-bit versions of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 2000 and Red Hat Inc.’s Advanced Server operating systems, and is free of charge to BEA customers. The vendor also released a preview version for Itanium 2, Intel’s 64-bit processor. The final version will be ready when Microsoft and Red Hat ship 64-bit versions of their operating systems, BEA said.
Borland eyes WebGain users
Seeing an opportunity in the recent demise of tools vendor WebGain Inc., Borland Software Corp. plans to announce an effort to convert VisualCaf
