Aestiva is offering a US$200 rebate off the purchase of Aestiva HTML/OS for former users of Cold Fusion, a cross-platform Web application server. Aestiva HTML/OS is a fully integrated development environment that includes a built-in database engine.
Aestiva is focused on Web-centric computing whereas Cold Fusion is seen primarily as a Windows-centric company, according to Gina Woolfolk, Aestiva sales manager. Aestiva’s rebate offer was announced in response to the continued gains the company has made in attracting former Cold Fusion users, she added.
“Aestiva’s a Web company who doesn’t put its eggs in a single proprietary hardware basket,” Woolfolk said in a press announcement. “Unlike Cold Fusion, Aestiva HTML/OS is fully state-persistent, scalable and distributable. It is a next-generation product that delivers enterprise power and advanced technologies for a small-business price.”
More importantly to developers, Aestiva HTML/OS eliminates the need for complex legacy technologies that many companies have built their Web platforms around. Aestiva’s run-anywhere philosophy is more in line with the promise of the Web than products built around proprietary platforms such as Microsoft, Woolfolk said. Aestiva’s products run on Unix, Linux and Macintosh hardware as well as Windows.
Aestiva users can develop commercial Web-based software built with HTML/OS and know that their products can be distributed almost anywhere on the Web, even in standard shared hosting accounts. Aestiva’s NET-anywhere initiative was designed to empower Web developers by giving them the tools to build run-anywhere Web-based products, Woolfolk said.
However, Cold Fusion is very popular and has some new marketing muscle behind it. The server is a product of Allaire Corporation, which is merging with Macromedia.
Also, last month, Tenon and Aestiva released four Web site applications designed to help folks give their Web sites more functionality. The applications are LiveHelp, HelpMate, Tell-A-Friend and Knowledge Base. They’ll be shipping with iTools 6.0 for operation on Mac OS X and will later be available for other platforms.