Sun buys Netbeans for Java tools

Sun Microsystems has ended weeks of speculation today with the announcement that it will buy development tools company Netbeans.

The Prague based company is a developer of cross platform Java based integrated development environments (IDE) and will become part of Sun's software products and platforms division. Sun said it has acquired the company in an assets based purchase. No financial terms were disclosed.

In a teleconference this afternoon, Sun executives said the acquisition, combined with products acquired as a result of Sun's purchase today of Forte Software, will provide Java development kit customers with a wider range of software choices.

The company's development tools provide all developers, from entry level to professionals, with a customisable environment for developing Web applications for the Internet and intranet, said Jonathan Schwarz, general manager of Internet applications.

He said Netbeans' software is based on an open API and the current tools suite supports the Java 2 platform including Javaserver pages, Servlet, XML, Corba, RMI and KJDBC technologies platform.

Free versions of Netbeans developer IDE for the Solaris environment, Linux, Windows 98 and NT are now available for download from Netbeans website.

Roman Stanek, Netbeans chief executive and founder, commented: "With more than 100,000 downloads, Netbeans is well positioned to be the leading Java technology IDE on the market."

"Being acquired by Sun now gives us the industry visibility and additional resources to make the Netbeans developer IDE the portal of choice for software developers," he added.

Mark Driver, research director for Gartner Group, commented in a posting on Netbean's website: "The acquisition is a good move for both Sun and Netbeans. Sun has acquired an important piece of the Java tools puzzle and Netbeans now has the Sun resources to be better positioned as a competitive force in the market."