Curl, Inc. announced its plans to release a significant body of code for the Curl Rich Internet Application (RIA) platform, which makes it easier for developers to build enterprise-class RIAs. The new release includes significantly expanded user interface styling capabilities, enabling developers to provide a fresh, modernized look and feel, along with an engaging end-user experience for any Curl-based application. Additionally, Version 6.0 enables new kinds of enterprise mashups that integrate JavaScript and Curl APIs.

"Our focus on the enterprise has enabled us to see the specific pain points that organizations face when developing their most mission-critical, sophisticated, Web-based applications," said Bert Halstead, vice president and chief architect, Curl. "With powerful new look and feel options and the ability to build mashups incorporating JavaScript components, the most powerful platform in the RIA industry continues to bring enterprises the tools they need to address their challenges head-on."

Key features of Version 6.0 of the Curl platform include:

• Skinning Package 
  
• Advanced Rendering APIs
  
• AJAX Interoperability Features
  
• Server Interoperability Features 
  

"Rich Internet Application technologies have demonstrated their value in the enterprise, and major vendors are now competing for this growing market," said Richard Monson-Haefel, senior analyst, Burton Group. "Curl is an excellent option for any enterprise considering RIA technologies. In addition to providing common UI widgets and other controls, Curl surpasses many RIA solutions in terms of richness by providing a solid foundation on which to build extremely sophisticated graphics to visually represent very large sets of data."

 While Curl has brought several new enhancements to its RIA platform, Version 6.0 will continue to provide many of the same attributes that have already made Curl the choice for more than 300 enterprise customers:

• Supports a wide range of Windows platforms, as far back as Windows 98, as well as Linux and Mac OS X.
  
• Exhibits the highest run-time performance and the most compact application sizes of any RIA platform.
  
• Enables effective software development by means of the Curl content language that supports text markup, graphics, scripting, and high-performance object-oriented computing, all in one integrated framework.
  
• Supports thousands of APIs such as charts, controls, record sets, animated 2D and 3D graphics, internationalization, and much more.
  
• Provides a comprehensive Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which includes a drag-and-drop visual layout editor, debugger, performance profiler, interactive documentation, deployment tool, and much more.