Sun Microsystems Announces Open Source Enterprise Development Tool Project

NetBeans Enterprise Pack Enables Developers to Customize and Contribute to Enterprise-Class UML, XML, and SOA Features.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. April 11, 2006 Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), the creator and leading advocate of Java technology, plans to open source major elements of the Sun Java Studio Enterprise -- an enterprise-class development tool -- as a project on NetBeans.org. This new project, which will be released as the NetBeans Enterprise Pack, continues Sun’s mission of growth via sharing and participation.

“Java Studio Enterprise is the crown jewel of Sun’s tools, providing a complete solution for architecting and implementing large-scale enterprise applications,” says Jeff Jackson, senior vice president of Java, Enterprise, and Developer Software at Sun. “Making it available to the NetBeans community, we’ve expanded the range of features that developers can adopt, customize, and deploy for more productive development with the Java Enterprise System. The NetBeans Enterprise Pack represents a significant step in Sun’s renewed commitment to developers by sharing technology, cultivating community, and investing in open source.”

The NetBeans Enterprise Pack is based on Java Studio Enterprise, an award-winning IDE that includes a number of advanced features for architecting and developing enterprise applications. The NetBeans Enterprise Pack is a flexible API-level development tool that is designed to run on top of the NetBeans 5.5 IDE. The solution-based tools of the NetBeans Enterprise Pack can make it easier to work on the architecture and implementation of complex applications at a higher level of abstraction. The feature set includes:

* 2-way UML modeler for architecting and reverse engineering complex enterprise applications. UML tools generate diagrams and keep them in sync with source changes without adding markers to the source code. Full support for the current version of the UML specification is provided.
* A set of XML infrastructure and visual editing tools which help enable developers to manage complexity in their XML files. These tools are intended to provide a base that can be extended by third parties.
* Orchestration and SOA tools are included for building composite applications. These leading-edge SOA tools leverage the business integration technology and expertise from Sun’s acquisition of SeeBeyond.

David Freels, software architect at Digital Reasoning Systems, Inc., finds the ease-of-use of visual tooling in NetBeans Enterprise Pack provides distinct advantages in the design and implementation of enterprise projects. “It allows me to model complex business systems and then seamlessly generate code, or synchronize with existing code saving me hours of time refactoring code and then updating the model”

Sun has committed to open sourcing its entire software portfolio using industry-standard open source licensing models to allow customers to have easy and broad access to all of its source code. Many of the components of Sun’s integrated platform are already available as open source, including the Solaris OS, the Sun Java Application Server, and several key underlying services like single sign-on capabilities and the ability to connect multiple, independent applications in a standard way. This is a trend where Sun continues to be a pioneer.

Open systems form the business and technology cornerstone of Sun Microsystems. From semiconductors and entry-level servers to supercomputers, and from operating systems and development tools to productivity suites, Sun has been dedicated to delivering systems based on open, industry standards and open source technologies for more than 20 years. Today, through shared technology innovation, Sun’s continued commitment to open source development is reflected in its sponsorship of well known open source communities including OpenSolaris.org, OpenOffice.org, NetBeans,org, JXTA.org and Jini.org. Sun is also a significant participant and contributor to many industry-changing open source projects including GNOME, Apache and Mozilla. Sun also manufactures some of the best-value industry-standard servers on the market, providing the perfect vehicle for deployment of solutions basedon free and open source software. Sun, at the heart of the community. For more information see www.sun.com/opensource.

NetBeans Software Day

The third annual NetBeans Software Day is a free event taking place on Monday 15 May 2006 at the Argent Hotel in San Francisco. James Gosling, the father of Java technology, and other Java technology luminaries will be present to discuss the NetBeans software and the future of Java developer tools. There is no charge to attend this event and attendees do not need to be registered for the JavaOne conference. Space is limited. Visit: http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/netbeansday.jsp.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision -- “The Network Is The Computer” -- guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world’s most important markets. Sun’s philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris, NetBeans, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

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Terri Molini

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Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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