Sun Microsystems announced the initial version of its opensource OpenSolaris operating system, previously only available in a developer preview release. The OpenSolaris operating system is available as a free download for developers to develop, test, and deploy new Web services and network applications. The new OS includes Sun's 128-bit ZFS file system which scales better and allows developers to protect their w Sun Microsystems announced the initial version of its opensource OpenSolaris operating system, previously only available in a developer preview release. The OpenSolaris operating system is available as a free download for developers to develop, test, and deploy new Web services and network applications. The new OS includes Sun’s 128-bit ZFS file system which scales better and allows developers to protect their work with its instant rollback and continual check-sum capabilities. It also includes Solaris Containers so that developers can build virtualization-aware applications that can be run on a single instance of the Solaris operating system.At the same time, Sun announced that OpenSolaris would be made available on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). Amazon EC2 gives businesses and developers a cost effective platform to build, test, and deploy their applications. “Support for OpenSolaris and MySQL on Amazon EC2 expands the reach and convenience for developers who want to quickly deploy their applications on the Web by taking advantage of Amazon Web Services,” said Rich Green, executive, vice president of Software, Sun Microsystems. “Sun aims to continue to offer additional options to use and deploy our open source platforms – covering the spectrum from small home-grown installations through to on-site data centers and hosted environments such as Amazon EC2.” Sun is offering two Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) in the beta program: OpenSolaris OS 2008.05 – Sun’s first supported offering of OpenSolaris (formerly known as “Project Indiana”) Solaris Express Community Edition – Sun’s binary release for OpenSolaris developers based on the latest OpenSolaris source base (code named “Nevada”)A select group of leading software vendors are already offering their solutions via Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2, including GigaSpaces, Rightscale, Thoughtworks and Zmanda. Sun is also making available the GlassFish application server. OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2 is available for no additional charge. Customers pay only for Amazon EC2 usage, which starts at $0.10 per CPU-hour. OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2 beta is currently available by invitation only. Request an invitation to join the program. Free technical support for OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2 beta participants is provided by Sun and Amazon EC2 support is provided by Amazon Web Services. Software Development