Red Hat is a trusted open source provider. Red Hat offers enterprise customers a long-term plan for building infrastructures on the quality and innovation of open source. Combining open source operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management, and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including the JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite.

From Application Virtualization to Xen, a round-up of the virtualization themes & topics being discussed in NYC June 23-24, 2008 by the world-class speaker faculty at the 3rd International Virtualization Conference & Expo being held by SYS-CON Events in The Roosevelt Hotel, in midtown Manhattan.

Brian Stevens, the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering of Red Hat, delivered his Virtualization Keynote 'The Future of the Virtual Enterprise' at SYS-CON's Virtualization Conference & Expo 2007 West in San Francisco. 'Virtualization is the hottest subject today,' said Stevens, an industry luminary, who is credited with having pioneered new technologies that contributed to the rise of Linux as an industry-standard operating platform.

Ulitzer, Inc., which initially made the headlines with its 'job descriptions from the future,' announced today that it will launch its Ulitzer 'beta' site on July 4, 2008, with 5,500 authors and 600,000 original articles, published in more than 5,000 topic-specific online journals. Each journal offers up to 14 content-specific sections, written by the world's most respected authors, who are experts in their particular fields. All Ulitzer authors will get paid for their contributions.

It's only taken Borland two years but it's finally dumped its CodeGear tools division, responsible for Borland's hereditary JBuilder, Delphi and C++ Builder lines as well as its new web ventures into PHP and Ruby, said to be used by 7.5 million developers. Embarcadero Technologies is buying it for about $23 million and the transaction's supposed to close in 30-60 days. Thomas Cressey Bravo the private equity house that bought Embarcadero and took it private last year, is fronting the money.

According to Sean Walsh, President and CEO of Skyway Software, 'Our Skyway Community is thriving and our members are very talented. We truly look forward to their RIAs submittals and Skyway Builder extensions and are excited that all of the contributions will benefit the entire Skyway Community.' With Skyway Builder CE, Java developers get an open source Eclipse-based plugin that offers a seamless blend of coding and modeling for delivering RIAs and Web Services in Spring. Unlike any other modeling tool, Skyway Builder CE provides comprehensive modeling capabilities at four distinct application layers:

Skyway Software announced a strategic partnership with SpringSource. In this technology partnership, Skyway Software becomes an application-delivery ISV certified by SpringSource and integrates Spring into Skyway Visual Perspectives, its end-to-end application development and delivery tool. Skyway Software will resell SpringSource software and technical support subscriptions with Skyway Visual Perspectives. Also, Skyway Software extends its support of the Eclipse community with the release of Skyway Builder Community Edition (CE), an open source development set of plug-ins built for use within the Eclipse Framework.

Instantiations announced that its customer base has grown to more than 10,000 customers. Instantiations reached this milestone through increased enterprise adoption of its Eclipse-focused product lines. An early participant in the commercial Eclipse market, Instantiations continues its growth with its WindowBuilder Pro and CodePro AnalytiX product lines. As a result, the company has achieved year-over-year revenue growth as well as record growth in the past two quarters.

Genuitec announced the availability of the milestone release of MyEclipse 6.5 Blue Edition, a tailored, customizable tool suite for WebSphere developers. Notably, this initial release of MyEclipse 6.5 Blue Edition offers project migration support. Developers currently working with IBM Rational Application Developer (RAD) 6 and WebSphere Application Developer (WSAD) 5 can now migrate projects into MyEclipse 6.5 Blue Edition.

Mainsoft announced the release of its SharePoint Integrator for Lotus Notes. This add-on to IBM Lotus Notes 8, an Eclipsed-based Rich Client Platform based on Java, provides point-and-click access to Microsoft SharePoint content, including Word documents, Excel worksheets, and PowerPoint presentations, from within Notes. Mainsoft professional services can also build composite applications across SharePoint data and Java or .NET line-of-business applications.

Genuitec announced the availability of the initial milestone release of MyEclipse Enterprise Workbench 6.5. Among noted enhancements is the upgrade of MyEclipse Spring tools, which provides the most up-to-date technology as well as the integration of the latest Spring framework 2.5 libraries. Also in the milestone release, JSF developers can expect to see an improvement to the JSF/Facelet visual page designer with all new support for coding and WYSIWYG preview of custom components.

AccuRev announced the release of its process-centric software configuration management (SCM) plug-in for m2eclipse, the popular Maven plug-in for the Eclipse development environment. Maven is a Java project management and build automation tool used for building and managing any Java-based project to make the day-to-day work of Java developers easier and provide build and project management for any Java-based project.

With only two weeks to go now before JavaOne, its annual Javaganza for developers, Sun has revealed that Java is at long last to be made 100% open source. 'We're trying to get Java into places it's never been before,' Rich Sands, group manager for developer marketing at Sun, told an interviewer on Tuesday.

The mouse was the original idea of Doug Engelbart who was the head of the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at Stanford Research Institute. Engelbart's philosophy is best embodied, in my opinion, in the design of another device that he invented, the five-finger keyboard - with keys like a piano, used by one hand. The problem was, Engelbart's five-finger keyboard and mouse combination was very difficult to learn.

VoiceObjects announced the availability of its VoiceObjects Desktop for Eclipse and VoiceObjects Developer Edition. Using these solutions, developers can create over-the-phone, multi-channel applications with personalization features to customize the experience for each user. VoiceObjects 7 suite of products includes: VoiceObjects Server for deployment and management of personalized self-service applications over voice, video, text and Web self-service channels; VoiceObjects Desktop for creating, testing, deploying and monitoring applications; and VoiceObjects Analyzer, a Web-based service used for caller behavior, system and application analysis.

Curl announced it has joined the Eclipse Foundation, a not-for-profit, member-supported corporation that helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services. In conjunction with joining the Foundation as an Add-In Member, Curl released details of its plans to base the next phase of its enterprise Rich Internet Application (RIA) development tools on the Eclipse framework.

CodeGear announced the availability of JBuilder 2008, its latest version of the IDE for the Java platform based on the Eclipse open source framework. With JBuilder 2008, CodeGear has added an innovation to the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Java: a methodology and associated collection of tools known as Application Factories. Application Factories is a new approach to software development and code reuse that addresses one of the challenges faced by Java developers today: navigating the complexity of framework choices, open source, internal code, and deregulated technology standards trying to determine how to use and reuse them together in order to deliver high-quality solutions with ever-increasing time pressures.

'Unlocking content to be remixed into new business value' is the driver of Web 2.0 in the enterprise, says Rod Smith, IBM VP of Emerging Internet Technologies, in this Exclusive Q&A with Jeremy Geelan on the occasion of IBM's release of a new technology created by IBM researchers, codenamed 'SMash' - short for Secure Mashup.

Here is a question that I have been pondering on and off for quite a while: Why do 'cool kids' choose Ruby or PHP to build websites instead of Java? I have to admit that I do not have an answer. Why do I even care? Because I am a Java developer. Like many Java developers, I get along with Java well. Not only the language itself, but the development environments (Eclipse for example), step-by-step debugging helper, wide availability of libraries and code snippets, and the readily accessible information on almost any technical question I may have on Java via Google. Last but not least, I go to JavaOne and see 10,000 people that talk and walk just like me.

VrtualLogix announced the availability of VLX Developer v2.0, offering enhanced support for deploying VLX realtime virtualization technology to performance-critical, Intel-based systems. Developer v2.0 complements VLX for Network Infrastructure v3.0, also announced, by enabling architects to create and deploy virtual platforms. These VLX-based systems offer the traditional cost-savings benefits of virtualization, combined with deterministic support for real-time operating systems (RTOS) as well as their device drivers and application code.

AMD announced a new plug-in that provides the Eclipse community with increased performance management and monitoring of Java software code. Called 'CodeSleuth,' this new plug-in delivers the functionality of AMD's CodeAnalyst Performance Analyzer, a suite of tools that analyze software performance on AMD processors, including Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors. To help ensure that the plug-in is readily available to the Java technology community and evolves with the community's needs, AMD is making CodeSleuth open source and available as a no-charge download within the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment(IDE).

Open-Xchange, the independent open source alternative to Microsoft Exchange, announced that it has joined the Eclipse Foundation as a new member. Open-Xchange offers email, calendar, contacts, tasks and document sharing providing companies with all the tools needed to facilitate communication and efficient teamwork. Users improve their communication and teamwork with intuitive tools and intelligent features, such as smart links between calendar appointments, task lists, contacts, documents, bookmarks and knowledge articles.

Wind River announced that Wind River Workbench has been awarded the 'Best Commercial Eclipse-Based Developer Tool' by the Eclipse Foundation. The company's commercial, Eclipse-based device software development suite was one of three finalists selected from over 55 nominations by a panel of judges from the Eclipse community. Wind River Workbench was selected as the winner for its usability of features, completeness of solution, and the manner in which the product uniquely solves problems faced by developers of embedded device software.

Ingres Corporation announced the creation of Ingres CAFE (Consolidated Application Foundation for Eclipse), which brings together in one bundle all the components developers need to create and deploy rich Java applications built using the Eclipse Foundation's open source development framework.

AMD has open sourced an Eclipse plug-in called CodeSleuth, apparently the equivalent of its CodeAnalyst Performance Analyzer, meant to give Java developers an idea of how their software is performing on AMD chips, including the quad-core Barcelona.

The olive branch - well, okay, twig - olive twig - that Microsoft extended to the open source Eclipse Foundation Wednesday was the undertaking to help make the Eclipse Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) work with Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) so it's easier for Java developers to write programs that look and feel like native Vista apps - almost as if they were written in C#.

Appcelerator announced updates to its software that will further its ability to bring together RIA and SOA. The company has created Appcelerator RIA Developer, an Eclipse plug-in that makes it easy for developers who prefer an Eclipse environment to create Appcelerator projects. It is also releasing an updated version of the Appcelerator SDK platform that includes powerful new features that streamline the use of third-party software with Appcelerator to quickly create RIAs.

AccuRev announced that customers are taking advantage of the new feature, usability and performance enhancements within its latest AccuBridge for Eclipse plug-in. AccuRev allows developers to access process-centric software configuration management (SCM) functionality directly within their familiar Eclipse IDE integration platform, enabling more familiar user interface options and increasing productivity.

RIM announced a BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) plug-in for Eclipse - a new development tool that enables Eclipse developers to create and test wireless applications for the BlackBerry platform from within the familiar Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The BlackBerry JDE Plug-in for Eclipse will enable Eclipse developers to create powerful mobile applications for the large and growing base of BlackBerry smartphone users around the world while maintaining a familiar Eclipse development environment. It will also allow Eclipse developers to leverage the inherent capabilities and benefits of the BlackBerry system architecture and development tools.

The Eclipse Foundation announced a new initiative to develop and promote open source runtime technology based on Equinox, a lightweight OSGi compliant runtime. While Eclipse is well known for its widely used development tools, this initiative establishes a community of Eclipse open source projects focused on runtime technology that provides a more flexible approach to building and deploying software on mobile, desktop and server environments.

Following on its recent series of announcements of key hires from the Eclipse community, Embarcadero is debuting its new professional-grade SQL development tool, PowerSQL. PowerSQL improves productivity for Eclipse application developers charged with SQL development.

The Eclipse Foundation Board of Directors has approved and created a new top-level project called the Eclipse Runtime project (Eclipse RT). The mission of this new top-level project is to foster, promote and house runtime efforts in the Eclipse community. The Project Management Committee (PMC) will be led by Jochen Krause (Innoopract) and Jeff McAffer (Code 9), and will include Douglas Clarke (Oracle), Ricco Deutscher (Sopera) and Thomas Watson (IBM). Eclipse RT will initially include the following sub-projects: Eclipse Communication Framework (ECF), EclipseLink, Equinox, Rich Ajax Platform (RAP), Riena, and Swordfish.

Genuitec announced the availability of Pulse 2.0. Pulse 2.0 features an enhanced catalog with hundreds of new plugins to choose from. It gives users the accessibility and freedom of choice to customize and share their software distributions. In addition to the expanded catalog, Pulse 2.0 is more streamlined and intuitive to use within the familiar user interface, but includes many of the enhancements of the lauded p2 platform.

Genuitec announced the availability of MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition, a tailored, customizable toolsuite for WebSphere developers. The success of the milestone release of MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition and subsequent customer input drove development for the general availability release, which provides users with all of the capabilities of the MyEclipse Workbench Professional Edition and full compatibility with the IBM WebSphere server.

Acquia has yet to price its maintenance and support subscriptions - there should be a variety of SLAs - but they're supposed to include an electronic update notification system code named Spokes for updates that have been reviewed for security and compatibility and are supported by Acquia. Acquia is currently at 12 people, expecting to be 25 by the end of the year. Its Series A money comes from Northbridge Venture Partners, Sigma Partners and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. According to Dries' blog, Drupal 7 should offer the ability to create, share and mashup managed content, letting Drupal be a data repository accessed by tools and web sites across the network.

froglogic's upcoming Squish 4.0 release will bring many improvements to the automated development and QA process. One strategic move is to replace the current in-house implementation of the graphical test development environment with an Eclipse-based IDE that is completely re-designed and re-written from scratch. The new Eclipse-based IDE will be deployed as a stand-alone RCP application as well as a plugin for the Eclipse Workbench.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) was founded in 1987 by David Packard. It's located in Moss Landing, California, where its three research ships and two remotely operated vehicles are berthed, giving them immediate access to Monterey Bay. MBARI also operates several autonomous underwater vehicles and maintains moorings offshore, equipped with ocean-monitoring instruments, as well as two moorings in the equatorial Pacific that are part of the NOAA Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array.

Protecode announced that they have joined the Eclipse Foundation, a not-for-profit, open source community, whose projects are focused on building an open development platform that helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services.

Sun closed on its acquisition of MySQL today, calling the billion-dollar purchase the 'most important acquisition in Sun's history' - oh, heck, make that the 'modern software industry' - with Sun preening that it completed the deal in less than six weeks convinced that it is now a proven open source leader ready to hustle platforms into the 'Network Economy.'

I am always being told off by i-technologists for quoting Picasso as having said that computers are useless. But I still love his reasoning: 'Because they can only give you answers.' Picasso, like AJAXWorld Magazine, liked questions. So we thought we would share with you what some of the world's leading rich Internet application pioneers are thinking may be the next questions that we need to see answered. From that, readers can themselves infer: where is AJAX headed next?