SXDE 9/07 AVAILABLE NOW

The Solaris Operating System (OS) is already the most stable, feature-rich, robust enterprise operating system on the market. Now Sun Microsystems has made it one of the easiest to install and use.

In the latest update to Solaris Express Developer Edition, SXDE 9/07, Sun has rewritten the GUI front end for the Solaris installer. The changes dramaticallysimplify and streamline the installation process. It's the first major change to the installer since the release of Solaris 8 in 2000, and should drive further adoption of the operating system, particularly among users with no previous Solaris OS experience.

With SXDE 9/07, Sun has thoroughly modernized its installer, presenting a straightforward experience that developers might find in Linux. Indeed, since SXDE is built from source code at OpenSolaris.org, and shares many of the same open-source-based components, Linux developers will make an easy transition to Solaris.

Sun's usability team worked with engineers to develop new simplified installation screens to create a positive experience for users, says McMeekin. "The team focused on removing all the geekiness that used to be a hallmark of the Solaris install process. They zeroed in on minimizing the installation effort and clarity of instructions. The result is fresh, clean, and modern."

With SXDE, the latest developer tools are installed during OS installation. For the 9/07 release that means Sun Studio 12, NetBeans 5.5, and D-Light. Installing the tools during system installation saves developers the time and hassle of installing them separately.

A highlight for developers of the 9/07 release is the inclusion of D-Light, a GUI-based tool that simplifies the use of Solaris Dynamic Tracing (DTrace) technology. Using D-Light developers can write their own monitors, correlate multiple events, plot data any way they need, and there is always a connection from what they monitor back to specific lines of source code. Most importantly, a developer doesn't have to be an expert in DTrace probes to use D-Light. The GUI makes it easy for Solaris and Java developers to monitor application performance.

Supporting Developers

Sun also recognizes that laptops are the system of choice for many developers these days. That's why wireless support is so important to the SXDE program and why new drivers are added to each release, including SXDE 9/07. This new release now includes support for Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), an important power management feature. EIST support is the latest addition to a growing list of ways in which Sun is broadening its commitment to the x86 architecture, and particularly to laptop computing.

To further ease the installation process for developers, Sun has bundled SXDE installation and configuration support into service subscription offerings for Solaris 10, at no additional cost. Sun also offers Developer Expert Assistance, a developer support program available on a per incident or annual subscription basis.

Early Peek at Solaris

SXDE is freely available and updated quarterly, providing developers with all the tools to build applications for the Solaris OS, Java Application Platform, and Web 2.0. It also is a great way to learn about Solaris futures. This means IT managers can begin testing, training, and integrating key features of Solaris months or even years ahead of the next formal OS release.

The upside is faster time to productivity for critical Solaris OS, Java, and Web 2.0 applications.

With the latest release of SXDE, Sun has turned an IT axiom on its head. That is, if an operating system is easy to use, it must not be robust enough for the most demanding tasks. Solaris is already proven to be among the most battle-tested enterprise operating systems. Now Sun has removed any barriers of entry by making it a snap to install and use.