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| Vol. 8, No. 5 |
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MindManager Pro 7 Exploits Microsoft Office-Fluent UI The MindManager Pro 7 release of the leading visualization software features a new interface based on the Microsoft Office-Fluent UI, designed to enable users to discover and use more capabilities within the product. Usability enhancements include easier browsing within the Ribbon, which has logically grouped tabs, saved queries and views for better navigation. The software also has new map styles and galleries for faster formatting, as well as enhanced Screen Tips. “Mindjet is not a presentation tool; it is a visualization tool,” says Lisa Burris Arthur, chief marketing officer with Mindjet. “Our strategy is to help the knowledge workers.” The company reports having sold 880,000 licenses of MindManager worldwide, and has 65 development partners who build tight integration with MindManager from their own products. Mindjet also released MindManager 7 Lite, an entry-level product, and MindManager 7 Mac, for the Apple Macintosh. English- and German-language versions of all MindManager 7 applications will be available on May 30th. MindManager Pro 7 is priced at $349; upgrades are $174; MindManager 7 Mac is $129; an upgrade is $69; and MindManager Lite 7 is $99. For more information, go to: Attachmate’s Host Integrator Plucks Mainframe Data into SOA World Attachmate’s Verastream Host Integrator 6.5 can extract data and logic from mainframe applications and give it new life via Web services. The resulting benefits are many: redesigned Web user interfaces, restructured workflows, and entirely new or SOA-based composite business applications or even Web portals. Attachmate’s new Verastream application is very versatile because it works not only with IBM’s iSeries but also with HP’s OpenVMS or e3000 and Unix machines, as well as the Java, J2EE and Microsoft’s .NET platforms, explains Ron Grevink, Attachmate’s director of integration strategy. Host Integrator 6.5 also meets the rigorous backup and load-balancing requirements of high-transaction environments, he adds. The latest Verastream Host Integrator application has added more mainframe vendors and runtime environments and enhanced support of standards. Additional improvements include an upgrade to 64-bit computing and beefed-up security, including full SSL encryption from client to mainframe. In addition, Version 6.5 eases the task of “rejuvenation” or visual makeover of an application’s Web-based user interfaces as well as changes to the actual workflow. For the first time, businesses can “mix and match” visual changes and workflow modifications of an application, and phase changes in over a period of time, Grevink says. Pricing starts at $25,000 per runtime server (typically two or more are required), $1,500 per developer kit and annual maintenance of 20 percent. For more information, go to:
Curl Inc. recently introduced Version 5 of its next-generation Rich Internet Application platform for making Web applications as sophisticated and scalable as their client/server counterparts. The application launch coincides with Curl’s re-entry into the North American market, which the MIT-spawned company left when it was purchased by Japanese-owned Sumisho Computer Systems in 2002. The acquisition focused the company on the Asian market. Curl’s technology includes a language, runtime environment and design tools for building a Web 2.0 application with a client-side, Java Script-powered engine. The engine enables Web applications to run directly on the client (even when not connected to the Internet), significantly reduces server workload and, conversely, increases availability of network bandwidth. The Curl platform also enables Web applications to offer highly interactive features, such as asynchronous page updates, complex dashboards, and data reports that are beyond the capability of an HTML-based Web browser, according to Richard Treadway, Curl’s vice president of product strategy. Here’s how it works, says Treadway: The Curl client-side engine calls a compacted application from the server, caches it on the client and no longer needs to interact with the server except to retrieve additional bits of information needed for a new presentation. Therefore, the Web application can continue to run offline and automatically syncs data when it returns to online operation. “Curl has the zippiness and power of a local install but the lower TCO (total cost of ownership) of the Web,” Treadway says. “Instead of sending HTML pages, it’s sending a file.” Pricing is $12,000 for a server with 20 users. Alternatively, businesses can opt for a software service model and pay $12,000 for the server and $20 per user per year. For more information, go to:
Alpha Software has released Version 8 of its flagship product, Alpha Five, for Web developers. Touted as the first rapid application development tool for Web 2.0/SaaS (Software as a Service) database applications, this latest version can be used to develop applications of all kinds—desktop, client/server, distributed n-tier, Web, AJAX, and enterprise database. “From concept to coding to compiling to debugging to deployment to management to maintenance, this one tool can do it all,” says Dave McCormick, product marketing manager. The tool, he continues, can help professional developers build apps five to 10 times faster than with existing languages and with fewer resources required. Version 8, however, is easy enough for non-programmers to use as well. “Organizations will be able to build, test, deploy, and manage state-of-the-art Web 2.0 or SaaS solutions in record time,” McCormick says. “That makes the organization more responsive to business needs and saves the organization money. For non-programmers, it empowers them to build their own custom solutions.” Targeted at non-programmers, professional programmers, desktop developers, VARs, ISVs, and corporate developers, Alpha Five Version 8 is priced at $249 for the professional edition and $179 for upgrades. The enterprise edition runs $349; $249 for upgrades. Alpha Five Application Server Basic is $499; $299 for upgrades. Alpha Five Application Server Enterprise is $699; $499 for upgrades. The Alpha Five Version 8 runtime starts at $499; $399 for upgrades. For more
information, go to: SoftwareGram coverage in this issue from Pam Derringer, John P. Desmond, and Lana Gates. For your calendar:
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