San Diego, CA-based Xamlon has released version 1.0 of its advanced eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML) development tool, designed to provide developers a way to test applications on Windows yet-to-released Longhorn operating system. Xamlon's latest release, which comes only a few months after version .9 debuted, conditions developers so they are not caught off guard, when Microsoft's new XML-based interface arrives. While Xamlon does not offer Longhorn, the Windows-based platform included with the software ensures a high certainty of portability onto Longhorn.

By making deployment of applications in XAML possible, Microsoft offers users a way to reduce high deployment costs, which would result if companies came into contact with XAML only when Longhorn was released. In this way, developers can ready themselves to ensure streamlined coding of Web services as well as Avalon, the graphics display component in the works for Longhorn.

XAML allows users to create a screen, putting user-interface code on one side, and application logic on the other. Microsoft designed the XML-based language in this manner to provide a way of reducing development time.

Developers gain more control over layout and other features that can be used to streamline deployment of applications. The Longhorn OS itself is not due out until 2006. To help developers on their way, Xamlon 1.0 comes with valuable design tools and the platform will change according to whatever changes Microsoft makes in XAML's specifications.

Visual Studio.NET 2003 has been integrated into Xamlon so developers can create interfaces and generate XAML code for those applications. Other add-ons include basic 3-D support and an SVG to XAML converter.