MyEclipse Developer Tools Update With Vista, Java EE 5 Support

Developer tools maker Genuitec shipped a new version of its Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) last week, adding support for Vista and many of the advances in Java Enterprise Edition 5.

Genuitec's MyEclipse Enterprise Workbench IDE is a full set of code editing and debugging developer tools for Java development atop the Eclipse platform. Sold by subscription for $30 per year ($50 for a more fully featured professional edition), MyEclipse reports a user base of 500,000 subscribers.

One reseller working with MyEclipse, AvantSoft president and CTO Ashvin Radiya, says he sees strong customer demand for the toolset. AvantSoft, a Los Gatos, Calif., solution provider that focuses on training services, recently organized a series of Web seminars from several ISVs offering add-on Eclipse tools. The MyEclipse seminar drew the highest attendance, Radiya noted.

"That tells us that there's strong developer interest in MyEclipse," he said. "MyEclipse has a great set of technologies that are behind their tools."

The new MyEclipse 5.5 release is the first to support deployment on Vista, although more robust Vista support will come in the next release, due in early July. The new version also offers preconfigured support for the Apache Derby open-source database, a JavaServer Faces (JSF) Visual Designer and drag-and-drop editing of JSF components, support for Java EE 5's popular EJB 3 and Java Persistence API, and a faster, simplified installer.

Eclipse has become a ubiquitous foundation for Java developer tools during the past several years, making it an attractive opportunity for ISVs to market add-on technology. The Eclipse Foundation is currently counting down toward "Europa," its second annual Big Bang simultaneous release of major project updates. Scheduled for June 29, Europa is slated to include nearly two dozen Eclipse projects.