Landon Fuller has announced the release of version 1.0.2 of SoyLatte. Unlike Apple's Java 6 implementation for the Mac, SoyLatte works with both Tiger and Leopard on both 32 bit and 64 bit architectures.

SoyLatte is a functional, X11-based port of the FreeBSD Java 1.6 patchset to Mac OS X Intel machines. SoyLatte is initially focused on supporting Java 6 development; however, the long-term view far more captivating: open development of Java 7 for Mac OS X, with a release available in concert with the official Sun release, supported on all recent versions of Mac OS X.

This new release fixes several bugs in the software and can be downloaded from the SoyLatte project page.

The Eclipse Foundation has released Ganymede, the latest annual release this time containing 23 Eclipse projects including the Eclipse IDE version 3.4.

This latest version of the annual Eclipse release contains many new features including:

• Equinox P2 - a system to make installations and updated to Eclipse easier
• JSDT - A new JavaScript editor
• Improved JavaScript support for the Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools, BIRT
• Graphical database query tools
• Improved support for Java EE 5
• SOA support

and many other features.

Further information, inclusing webinars and demos can be found on the project website .

This new release can be downloaded from the Eclipse web site .

Max Andersen has today announced the release of JBoss Tools 2.1.0.GA.

"JBoss Tools is a set of plugins that enhances and adds support in Eclipse for JBoss.org projects and related technologies such as JBoss AS, Hibernate, JPA, Seam, jBPM, JSF and more."

Since release 2.0, many changes have been made including performance improvements (e.g. approximately 30x speed improvement on Seam Tools startup), usability fixes and bug fixes. The complete change log can be found here.

This release is a drop in upgrade from previous versions, however all users are recommended to try this version.

The tools can be downloaded from SourceForge .

Packt is pleased to announce a new book on Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) that provides understanding and structure in a fast paced, task driven and tutorial style. Practical Data Analysis and Reporting with BIRT focuses on the most visible and familiar product built with the BIRT framework, which is the BIRT Report Designer.

BIRT, which stands for Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools, is an Eclipse-based open source software project that provides reporting and business intelligence capabilities for rich client and web applications, especially those based on Java and J2EE. BIRT is in fact a collection of development tools and technologies used for developing reports utilizing the BIRT runtime framework component on an application server. BIRT has two main components: a visual report designer within the Eclipse IDE for creating BIRT Reports, and a runtime component for generating reports that can be deployed to any Java environment.

This book has a fast-paced, task-driven, tutorial style, which provides understanding and structure, not just lists of steps to follow. The focus is on the most visible and familiar product built with the BIRT framework, which is the BIRT Report Designer. The BIRT Report Designer is an Eclipse plug-in that utilizes BIRT technologies to allow users to design reports in the BIRT document format. Also covered is the BIRT charting engine, which lets you add charts to your application.

Java developers who want to get reporting as quickly as possible will find this book useful. The book is published by Packt and is available now. For more information, please visit: http://www.packtpub.com/practical-data-analysis-reporting-with-birt/book