WebSphere Portlet Factory Version Next - Beta now available

I had a briefing from the Product Manager, Jason Cornell, on the plans for the next release of WebSphere Portlet Factory, which is just out in beta: -

• Expanded support for the latest, advanced Dojo toolkit User Interface widgets and controls enabling delivery of exceptional web experiences
• New theme support for creating applications with enhanced, dynamic interactivity by eliminating page flicker with intelligent User Interface refresh capabilities
• New compelling User Interface capabilities with new features designed to generate exceptional applications by default for providing superior user experiences
• New automation features enabling fast, simple construction of fully functional applications from relational databases in seconds
• New and enhanced visual application development features for easy, intuitive and faster application construction
• Improved remote development and deployment support for remote servers running on-premise or in the cloud enabling faster and less costly application delivery
• Better integration with IBM WebSphere Portal themes providing centralized control of portal site and application look and feel
• New support for IBM ILOG JViews charting components for delivering the most advanced data visualizations

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=332840&tstart=0

There's also a presentation here: -

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=888

which provides more depth on this beta.

I've downloaded it this afternoon, and it'll be installed onto the Ubuntu 10.04 environment that I'm building on my Thinkpad ( now up to 8 GB, w00t ) tomorrow.

I'm using WPF in most of my projects now, and am continuing to evangelise it to all and sundry, both here on my blog, and face-to-face with my prospects.

It's a rapid application development tool with bite, that's really aimed at helping developers creating rich applications, using the latest standards and technologies, whilst encouraging good practice in terms of model-driven development, service orientation, absrtaction, separate of layers ( UI, data, service etc. ).

I'm enthused - I'd encourage you to get the beta, and be equally enthused ...

DO IT, DO IT NOW