FOR IMMEDIATTE RELEASE
For information contact:
Hillel Cooperman, Natural Intelligence, (617) 876-7680 x1221,
mail to: coop@natural.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Cambridge, MA: To provide users more time to evaluate
Roaster(tm) and provide feedback, Natural Intelligence is shipping a
prerelease version of what will be Roaster Release 1, the first environment
for developing in Sun(tm) Microsystems’ Java(tm) programming language on
the Macintosh(r), on May 13th at Apple(r)’s WorldWide Developer’s
Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California. Owners of Developer Release 1
and those who purchase a subscription now will receive this version, called
Developer Release 2, as well as Roaster Releases 1 and 2.
Roaster DR2 feature set
Roaster DR2 has many new additions to the DR1 environment, including:
* 68K support
* fully integrated browser and class tree
* full AppleScript(tm) support, plus AppleScript class wizard
that guides you through building a class
* extensive HTML support, including a suite of editing tools
* Applet Runner support for the Java network class loader to
allow you to fetch applets off the net and run them
* database connectivity classes for accessing ODBC-compliant
databases
Roaster DR2 also contains searchable electronic documentation, ability to
generate documentation in HTML format, plus a sophisticated context
sensitive online help piece that includes:
* complete cross-reference of Sun’s Java Developer’s Kit (JDK)
by class, method, instance variable, subclass, objects
passed to and returned by other objects, interface
implementation, and much more
* quick language reference
* example cross reference of many of the demo applets and
applications
Registered users will also receive a free trial subscription to Java Report
magazine, a SIGS publication.
Commitment to honest and open communication with customers
“Although many aspects of the current version of Roaster are Release 1
quality, as it came close to ship time, certain components just weren’t
ready,” said Joshua D. Wachs, President of Natural Intelligence. “Since
DR1, we have added a lot of new components and functionality. By putting
out a DR2 version, we’re giving our customers another major new release to
work with; we’re also allowing ourselves enough time to incorporate
feedback so we can produce a Release 1 that lives up to the high standards
we are establishing for our software.”
“We have always been honest and open with our customers about what they’re
receiving from us,” said Jim Burke, Project Manager for Roaster. “We came
out with DR1 months before the competition, and this release is a major
improvement over DR1. We’ve added many new components and are excited to
bring this DR2 version to the developer community.”
Roaster development strategy
Burke also discussed the development strategy behind Natural Intelligence’s
Roaster Product Line efforts. “As the Java technology is so dynamic, we’ve
implemented a component-based strategy that will allow us to reprioritize
as different market and technical demands arise,” said Burke. “For example,
we had to do some rethinking of our compiler strategy. Largely because of
our VM implementation, Sun’s javac compiler running on top of Roaster’s
virtual machine is comparable to some of our competitor’s ‘faster’ native
implementations. So for this release, we didn’t feel that our compiler
should be our focus. Instead we’ve implemented significant overall speed
improvements, a revamp of our IDE, and added other features that will help
our users get the most out of Java development right now. You can imagine
what we will be able to do in the next few months.”
Superior core technology
Rick Eames, Lead Engineer on the Roaster project, discussed the company’s
commitment to developing superior core technology for developing in Java.
“Our IDE is simply the best out there on the Macintosh, period. We also
have the fastest VM implementation. Our emphasis continues to be on
designing and developing the core components that will take us into the
future of Java development, which to a great extent is the future of the
Roaster Product Line.”
Roaster release strategy
Eames also commented on the strategy behind releasing a DR2 version. “As
Java developers ourselves, we understand our customers’ need to receive
timely updates and get the most out of their subscription price. We wanted
to bring out a DR2 release so our users could take advantage of these
features ahead of time, yet not have this update counted against them. The
developer release strategy is in place so that DR1 owners or those who buy
DR2 now don’t have to start their subscription until Release 1. That’s the
purpose of the Roaster subscription-to provide a solid, comprehensive
development environment for Java that is constantly being improved and
updated.”
Future releases
Natural Intelligence is planning on a schedule of updates that will provide
users with key functionality before Release 1 comes out at the end of the
summer. Source-level debugging will be released in June; Visual Tools will
be released in July.
Natural Intelligence also plans to release documentation of the Roaster API
by the end of June, including examples of how to do native calls.
Pricing and availability
A Roaster subscription, which includes DR2, Releases 1 and 2, plus all
associated updates, is $299, $99 academic. Roaster subscription owners also
receive unlimited technical support throughout their subscription. Roaster is
available through DevDepot (800-MACDEV-1, 805-494-9797,
http://www.devdepot.com, or orders@devdepot.com)
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About Natural Intelligence:
Established in 1987 with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Natural
Intelligence, Inc. provides quality tools and solutions in a variety of
areas, specializing in cross-platform Internet development with a focus on
Java development and database consulting. Natural Intelligence’s products
include Roaster(tm), the Development Environment for Java, QuickCode
Pro(tm), a code editor for 4th Dimension(r), and DragStrip(tm), the
Ultimate Desktop Organizer for the Macintosh. For more information on Natural
Intelligence, email us at info@natural.com or look us up on the Web at
www.natural.com.
Trademark info:
Roaster, QuickCode Pro, and DragStrip are trademarks of Natural
Intelligence, Inc. All rights reserved. Macintosh is a registered trademark
of Apple Computer, Inc. Mac and AppleScript are trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. Java and Sun are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. 4th
Dimension is a registered trademark of ACI US, Inc.