Java Enterprise System 4 now available

October 31, 2005—Sun Microsystems has released a new version of its Java Enterprise System (Java ES) subscription-based enterprise middleware, which will now support additional non-Sun operating systems.

The company’s latest release of Java ES, version 4, now supports Solaris 10, Microsoft’s Windows 2000, Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux, and Hewlett-Packard’s HP-UX operating systems, according to a Sun release. Support for IBM’s AIX Unix operating system was not included. In many recent public statements, Sun has claimed that AIX is a “dying” operating system. Support for Microsoft’s Windows 2003 is due to be added over the coming 90 days, Sun said.

Sun has integrated Java ES 4 and its suite of developer tools within Solaris 10 to create a pretested, preconfigured offering, according to a Sun release. Java ES is also available in the form of individual suites known collectively as Java System Suites. The suites include Java Availability Suite, Java Identity Management Suite, Java Web Infrastructure Suite, Java Application Platform Suite, and Java Communications Suite, with a recent addition being Java Integration Suite, formerly the SeeBeyond ICAN Suite. Sun acquired SeeBeyond Technology earlier this year.

Sun said it has nearly 1 million subscribers for Java ES, which is priced at 40 per employee per year, according to a Sun release.

Sun promised to provide more details on another upcoming software release, Java Studio Enterprise 8, within the next 30 days.