When you hear the name “Original Software,” chances are good the words “automated iSeries, Windows, and Web-based software testing” pop into your mind. That is no mistake, as this has been what the English software house has been developing and promoting for as long as this reporter can remember. That is why it is a bit surprising to hear that Original Software is now taking a small step back from its mantra of all automated software testing, and talking up the virtues of manual testing techniques.

Make no mistake about it: Original Software is not throwing in the towel on

COBOL tool developer Micro Focus this year will release new versions of its development environments that function as plug-ins to the Eclipse development framework, the company announced recently.

Micro Focus said it would ship an Eclipse plug-in for its Net Express (for Windows-based COBOL apps) and Server Express (for Unix- and Linux-based COBOL apps) products during the second quarter. The plug-in for its Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition will follow, the company said.

Redeveloping its various COBOL products into Eclipse plug-ins will benefit users by providing a consistent development experience and leveraging “the efficiencies inherent in Eclipse” to boost productivity, the

Magic Software recently rolled out a version of its iBOLT integration software tailored for J.D. Edwards World and EnterpriseOne environments. The new i5/OS-based product, called JDE Connect, enables users to extend customized J.D. Edwards programs to applications running on other platforms, and, conversely, to bring data from other systems into the J.D. Edwards environment. Software licenses start at around $20,000, about half the typical iBOLT cost.

iBOLT grew out of the company’s flagship fourth-generation language (4GL) integrated development environment, called eDeveloper, in 2003. Many eDeveloper users were already using the IDE, which featured a proprietary messaging layer to integrate their

While the number of established OS/400 high availability software providers has been declining lately due to industry consolidation (re: iTera, OS Solutions, and Vision Solutions), that hasn’t stopped new players, such as Bug Busters Software Engineering of Seattle, Washington, from entering the market. Last week, Bug Busters announced the GA of RSF 8.0, the latest release of its flagship utility, which gained a new record-level mirroring capability that is key to high availability replication.

Bug Buster’s RSF traditionally served as an application lifecycle management tool, not part of a disaster recovery or high availability solution. For years, RSF has helped

ARTech is moving forward on a rewrite of GeneXus, its fourth-generation language (4GL) development environment, and should be ready to announce its availability later this year, company officials recently told IT Jungle. GeneXus version 10, which goes by the codename “Rocha,” will be a complete rewrite of the IDE, and bring features such as a process modeler, an integrated portal, and pattern-based development to iSeries developers using the tool.

GeneXus is an advanced IDE that’s used by thousands of OS/400 and Windows developers around the world since it was first introduced nearly 20 years ago. ARTech, which is headquartered

iSeries shops will save time when encrypting their backups when they use Transfer Anywhere version 1.9, a new release of the multi-function (and multi-platform) utility unveiled by Linoma Software last month.

The new release will perform encrypted backups and restores up to 50 percent faster than before, according to Linoma, an iSeries utility developer based in Ashland, Nebraska. What’s more, encrypted backups now occupy less disk space, according to the company. This is good news for any iSeries shop looking to add an extra layer of protection to their regular backups by using encryption.

The new release also brings support

Adobe Systems has entered into an OEM agreement with NetManage for a series of Java-based adapters for integrating back-office applications, the companies announced last month.

The agreement calls for Adobe to distribute all of its Java-based NetManage Librados adapters as part of LiveCycle, Adobe’s electronic document management systems and a key component of its Intelligent Document Platform initiative. All testing has been completed, and the companies are standing behind the combination of LiveCycle and Librados for capturing business information in real-time without requiring the user to have in-depth knowledge of the system.

At last count, NetManage was selling about

BOSaNOVA last month unveiled two new Windows-based thin client tablet computers that offer more storage and processing power compared to previous models. The new 360XP and 360CE BOS tablets also got price reductions compared to their predecessors.

BOSaNOVA started shipping Windows-based tablets a little over two years ago, when it introduced the Windows CE-based 8375 Wireless Tablet and the 8368 Wireless Tablet, which ran the Windows XP Embedded operating system. With 8-inch color touch-screen displays, integrated wireless LAN, a 5250 emulator, and a weight around two pounds, the handy little thin clients were destined to connect mobile employees to iSeries

CCSS, a developer of iSeries systems management software, has created a subsidiary in the Philippines to service the growing Southeast Asia region, the company announced last month. CCSS (Asia), as the new concern is called, will be directed by Edward Felicen E. Soro.

Southeast Asia has experienced considerable economic growth over the last several years. According to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 10 member countries–including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam–averaged a 6.3 percent increase in output (as measured by GDP) in 2004, and trade between its members and the

Terillium, one of Oracle‘s top resellers, is now reselling the Spreadsheet Server and other products from Global Software, the companies announced last month.

As part of the deal, Cincinnati, Ohio-based Terillium will resell the J.D. Edwards and Oracle E-Business Suite versions of Global’s Spreadsheet Server application, as well as its Budget Manager and Executive DASH software. Terillium will have the rights to sell and license these products throughout North America.

The decision to bring Terillium into the Global fold was not an easy one, according to Spencer Kupferman, vice president of corporate affairs for the Raleigh, North