Genuitec announced the availability  of “MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition,” a toolsuite tailored specifically for IBM WebSphere users. This first milestone release is available for free trial download and use through April 1, 2008.

MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition provides users with all the features of MyEclipse Workbench Professional Edition, but also includes advanced customized tooling and capabilities for the IBM WebSphere application server.

IBM recently announced the end of the WebSphere Application Developer (WSAD) product lifecycle. Consequently, this requires WebSphere developers to migrate to IBM’s Rational Application Developer (RAD) tooling to take advantage of WebSphere's advanced Web Services capabilities and other features. MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition provides WebSphere users with a low cost alternative to RAD, allowing them to avoid an expensive and laborious toolset change. MyEclipse Blue Edition utilizes IBM's Web Services, and it does not nullify existing support contracts.

Moreover, MyEclipse Blue Edition gives developers the flexibility of using either toolset – as they see fit. Developers can utilize MyEclipse Blue Edition in conjunction with, or as an alternate to, RAD.

“The MyEclipse Blue Edition toolset is something our customers requested,” said Wayne Parrott, vice president of product development for Genuitec. “We meet our customers where they are. They needed new and more lightweight tools with the latest technologies, but without risk to their pocketbooks or support agreements. We delivered that.”

Milestone releases of MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition are free to the public, with an impending general availability release slated for late March.

“Genuitec will continue to develop toolsets to support IBM server lines,” said Genuitec CEO Maher Masri.  “We foresee MyEclipse Blue Edition growing alongside customer demand and in step with IBM technologies to ensure there is a viable, lightweight option for WebSphere development.”

MyEclipse 6.1 Blue Edition is backwards compatible with WebSphere 5.x and 6.0, and will continue to evolve as part of the WebSphere ecosystem.

Free trials of the initial milestone will last through April 1, 2008, with annual subscriptions available at a cost of $149 beginning with the GA release.  As with all MyEclipse products, free trials and paid subscriptions are fully supported by Genuitec’s world-class online support team.