VANCOUVER, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Tasktop Technologies, creators of Eclipse Mylyn and the leading provider of task management solutions for application lifecycle management (ALM), today announced Tasktop Pro 1.6, which builds on Mylyn 3.3, the latest version of the most widely adopted ALM integration suite for the Eclipse IDE. New time-tracking support and ALM system interoperability create a complete task management layer that provides the missing link between software development delivery and agile project management.

"With this latest release of Tasktop Pro, we have leveraged Mylyn's task management framework to seamlessly link development activity with the leading change management and ALM tools," said Mik Kersten, CEO of Tasktop Technologies and creator of the open source Eclipse Mylyn project. "For developers, this removes the pain of keeping the ALM system up-to-date with actual development activity. For agile teams, it means realistic estimation thanks to the automated tracking of time spent, providing accurate project tracking and visibility. When linked with the measurable productivity benefits of the task-focused interface, it yields some of the biggest productivity gains since the adoption of the IDE."

Tasktop created its task management tools to help developers be more productive by making it effortless for them to organize their work around tasks and automatically present the most relevant source code and project management information associated with each task. The end result is that developers no longer have to waste time repeatedly searching and scrolling for the information they need to write code, since the IDE shows only the information relevant to the task-at-hand. One-click multitasking allows the developer to minimize the impact of interruptions by instantly recalling relevant information needed to complete specific tasks.

In addition, Tasktop has led the movement to integrate ALM tools with the IDE. It created the open source Eclipse Mylyn, which is downloaded 1 million times monthly with Eclipse distributions, and is extended by 42 different ALM tools, making it the de facto standard for ALM integration with the Eclipse IDE. Mylyn includes integrations with popular open source ALM tools such as Bugzilla, Trac and Mantis. The commercially supported Tasktop Pro is the company's full-featured tool that extends the benefits of Mylyn by adding time tracking and task-focused support for activities such as Web browsing, office document authoring, email and calendars. Tasktop Pro provides all of the Tasktop certified Mylyn ALM integrations, such as Atlassian JIRA, CollabNet TeamForge and Subclipse, Danube ScrumWorks Pro, IBM ClearQuest, Rally, and with ThoughtWorks Studios Adaptive ALM set for availability this December. In addition, it also provides integrations with Microsoft Outlook and Google Apps.

The latest version of Tasktop Pro 1.6 includes:

• Cross-repository linking - managed links between any ALM system with a Tasktop-certified integration (or any OSLC compliant ALM application) now can be created to specify and share dependencies. New importing and migration features allow tasks to be easily moved between ALM systems and to be established as new items within an application. For example, an email thread can be converted and linked to a user story.
  

• Automated time tracking - as tasks are worked on and completed, precise time tracking features provide developers and managers with accurate visibility into resource requirements and project progress. New time reports allow developers to quickly review and adjust time spent before submitting data to the existing project management tools for aggregate reporting. This approach eliminates the need to manually track time that leads to a loss of productivity, commonly inaccurate data and annoyed developers. Developers have had a very positive response to the time tracking automation as they have complete control over its use and can adjust actuals to account for meetings and other time away from the computer.
  

Tasktop Pro also includes Mylyn 3.3, which contains several new features that improve the usability of task management facilities. The most notable new Mylyn feature is:

• Support for C/C++ projects - the ability to automatically link relevant information with development tasks is now fully supported for C and C++ developers using Eclipse CDT. This is especially useful and popular with mobile and embedded application developers. C and C++ developers now get the same focused workspace and one-click multitasking as Java developers using Eclipse JDT.
  

Pricing and Availability

Tasktop Pro 1.6 is available immediately. Pricing for Tasktop Pro is $99-per-user and includes commercial ALM integrations, and Eclipse IDE and standalone applications for project managers. In addition, Tasktop offers the Tasktop Enterprise edition for $199-per-user that includes enhanced support and additional integration for IBM Rational ClearQuest, with further support for ClearCase expected in December 2009. For more information, please visit http://tasktop.com.

Mylyn 3.3 is available as a free open source tool from Eclipse.org with community support and integrations for Bugzilla and Trac. It can be downloaded at http://eclipse.org/mylyn.

About Tasktop Technologies

Tasktop Technologies created the task-focused interface and widely popular Eclipse Mylyn tool that is used by hundreds of thousands of programmers around the globe. In addition, it offers its commercially supported Tasktop Pro and Tasktop Enterprise products that improve developer productivity and increase project management visibility through IDE integration with today's leading software development management tools. Tasktop also provides training and consulting services to the growing number of companies adopting the task-focused paradigm and tools. For more information please visit http://tasktop.com, or call 778-588-6896.

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SOURCE Tasktop Technologies