Developers now have a fast, efficient and cost-effective way to create AJAX-enabled rich Internet applications with the release of ClearNova's, ThinkCAP JX -- the first rapid application development (RAD) platform to be offered as open source, and the first visual development environment for building rich Internet applications. ThinkCAP JX combines the power of AJAX, J2EE and open source to enable organizations and their developers to build the web-based applications that run their businesses.

ThinkCAP JX is available for download at the www.thinkcap.org. In addition, in late February, the project web site will be the location for community feedback, shared experiences, bug fixes, feature requests and sharing knowledge with other users. ClearNova will provide training, consulting, maintenance and support for the product. In addition to releasing ThinkCAP JX under the GPL license for non-commercial distribution, ThinkCAP will also be available to those needing a commercial license & indemnification at a nominal price.

"Our customers, as well as the 750 organizations that downloaded our beta have spoken loud and clear: they want an open source, royalty free framework and engine that allows them to fully exploit the collaborative nature of the community and that does not lock them into a proprietary runtime," said Byron Matheson, CEO of ClearNova. "We are confident that releasing the ThinkCAP JX framework as an open-source product will provide customers with the ability to realize the power of AJAX-enabled web applications as a better alternative to traditional client server business programs, while greatly accelerating adoption of ThinkCAP as the gold-standard for RAD platforms."

Until now, AJAX development has been highly labor intensive and required very sophisticated programming skills and a complete change in how developers approach their work. ThinkCAP JX allows Java and 4GL developers to rapidly build applications without having to become JavaScript experts. ThinkCAP JX provides event-driven AJAX development so that developers can code on either the client or the server--or both; because developers can leverage Java to make changes to the user interface, it is easier for them to develop and maintain the application. ThinkCAP JX can also be used to add AJAX functionality to existing Java applications.