MontaVista Software  announced a new developer tools beta; with final release available in the first half of 2007. The new developer tools beta provides integrated infrastructure and solutions to support development for multiple versions and editions of MontaVista Linux. The MontaVista developer tools, code-named Project Tsuki, plugs into Eclipse – an open source community whose projects are focused on providing a vendor-neutral, open integration platform with application frameworks for building cross-platform software. This will enable a full standards-compliant application development process.

“The Project Tsuki beta is a significant update to the MontaVista developer tools suite,” said Michel Meeuws, Philips Consumer Electronics. “The advancements in usability have provided us an optimal solution for our MontaVista Linux-based project. With the Project Tsuki Eclipse plug-ins, MontaVista has delivered a simplified, automated remote debugging and analysis solution for embedded Linux in a way that is flexible with our development environment.”

“The continuously evolving and maturing Eclipse platform has emerged as an alternative way for embedded software suppliers to reduce their costs in lieu of developing and maintaining their own proprietary IDE,” said Stephen Balacco, embedded software analyst with Venture Development Corporation. “While not perfect, the Eclipse framework might offer the best environment to enable higher levels of integration and inter-operability with best-in-class standard Eclipse plug-in technologies like MontaVista’s beta technology for embedded Linux debug and analysis solutions that cover a broader spectrum of the development cycle.”

Developers will have the ability to use MontaVista plug-ins on any Eclipse-based integrated development environment (IDE), allowing greater flexibility and complete participation in the Eclipse ecosystem. Development teams supporting multiple operating systems no longer will be bound by vendors’ separate IDE. Project Tsuki also delivers and installs versions of Eclipse, CDT, and RSE, exactly as they are available from Eclipe.org, if need be.

“MontaVista’s new best-in-breed tools platform is designed and developed explicitly for Linux, which will provide application and system developers of embedded Linux with the right tools for the job,” said James Ready, CTO, MontaVista Software. “MontaVista is building Linux-aware debugging and analysis tools that are intuitive and interactive within the Eclipse IDE. Following an OSS release model, we will be able to provide a more aggressive delivery cycle, with the agility and flexibility that organizations require.”

As part of the beta, MontaVista is implementing a new delivery schedule. MontaVista will deliver update packages (both maintenance and features) on a regular basis. Customers will receive continued value for their subscription dollars with the opportunity to drive the prioritization of features, thus enabling quicker delivery.

The new MontaVista developer tools will specifically address the traditional major challenges for embedded Linux application and system developers by providing Eclipse IDE plug-in features to discover and use current and future MontaVista Linux installations, to easily connect to MontaVista Linux targets using SSH for a wide range of target services, and to build and debug MontaVista Linux applications using the standard, un-modified Eclipse C/C++ Developer Toolkit. Additional features support advance analysis of MontaVista Linux systems using best-of-breed Linux command-line tools to do the following: understand memory usage, find memory leaks, profile the system and applications to find performance bottlenecks, fully trace a system, and easily build and configure platform images.