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Hailing it as a new strategy that will 'dramatically change the economics of delivering Web services', Sun has officially launched the new Sun ONE Application Server 7 product line. The middleware - formerly known as the iPlanet Application Server - is at the heart of Sun's approach to supporting industrial-scale Web-based applications

The new releases will come on-stream in the winter of 2002, with Windows and Solaris versions of the app server appearing in September and Linux, HP-UX and AIX platforms being supported by the end of 2002.

As part of its approach to persuading enterprises and ISVs to take the Java route to delivering Web services - as opposed to the more Windows-centric Microsoft .Net or IBM's equivalent offerings - the core Platform edition of the application server will be made freely available.

While Microsoft has already seized the initiative in this area, its vision for .Net services has not yet been widely implemented. As Microsoft's general manager for platform strategy Charles Fitzgerald memorably commented, on reports that Microsoft was struggling to get companies to commit to My Services: 'We're sort of in the Hegelian synthesis of figuring out where the products go once they've encountered the reality of the marketplace.'

Sun, by contrast, will be hoping that the established user base of J2EE systems (the Enterprise Edition of the Java 2 platform) will provide an established route for enterprises to deliver Web-based services. As a means to this end, the Sun ONE Application Server's core runtime has been integrated into the J2EE 1.3 platform Reference

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Implementation. Furthermore - in what seems to be the sincerest form of flattery for Microsoft - Sun announced last month that the core Platform Edition will be 'tightly integrated' into its own major operating system, Solaris 9. Effectively, Sun is trying to ensure the wide distribution of a low-cost Java technology-based application server.

'With this new business model and product offering, Sun is dramatically changing the economics of Java technology and Web services development,' said Jonathan Schwartz, executive VP of software at Sun Microsystems. 'This move should help to radically accelerate the adoption of Java as the premier platform for Web services, allowing enterprises and ISVs to transfer more of their budgets away from paying for core application server functionality and into creating the value-added Web services that will make their businesses successful.'

While the Platform Edition of the application server will be free (with any maintenance and support services carrying a charge), the Standard Edition will be priced at $2,000 per CPU, with the Enterprise Edition - available early 2003 priced at $10,000 per CPU.

In terms of development tools to accompany the release, Sun ONE Studio version 4 spans three editions: Enterprise (an integrated development environment to support components of the Java Web Services Developer Pack and the use of Enterprise JavaBeans components); Mobile (for developing applications for devices running on the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition architecture); and Community (which covers the development of JavaServer Pages/servlets).

'As organizations implement Web services, it is clear that their development tools must span the full range of functionality, from mobile devices to the most sophisticated server-side development,' said Peter Young, VP of Sun ONE Studio Tools. 'The Sun ONE Studio tools address this diversity, which is the reality of today's IT environment.'

Similarly, Sun's Java Web Services Developer Pack (WSDP) is available for free download from the Web, which includes more of tools and tutorials for building J2EE-compatible Web services. A full Sun ONE Developer Platform will be available in the winter of 2002.