Macromedia readies new ColdFusion releases

by Kathleen Ohlson

April 20, 2001 —

Macromedia Inc. later this month is expected to announce an upgrade to the ColdFusion
application server, the last version to be released in C++ before the company
switches over to Java with another new version early next year.

ColdFusion, which is used to power small to midsized Web sites, is one of the
products Macromedia acquired when it merged with Allaire Corp. last month, and
the upgrade will be the first release since they united.

Sources say ColdFusion 5.0, which is set for a June shipment date, will include
some established Macromedia technologies, such as Flash Generator, and some
Java features. Flash Generator allows businesses to create Web site graphics
and animation, such as mastheads, charts and interactive maps, on the fly.

"I see a solution that enables us to build graphics dynamically with Flash
as a big plus," says Leon Chalnick, president of Advanta Solutions, a consulting
firm in Long Beach, Calif. that has used ColdFusion since its inception. With
Version 5.0, Chalnick figures Advanta would have the ability to build a query
against an intermediate query result and flush pages to the browser before they're
complete.

Pricing information for ColdFusion 5.0 wasn't available, though pricing for
the enterprise edition of ColdFusion 4.5 is $3,500.

The version of ColdFusion coming early next year will be blended with JRun,
a Java application server developed by Allaire. Further details about that new
product aren't yet available.

"The user functions of ColdFusion are easy to develop, and [with Java],
they have a lot going for them," says Shawn Willett, an analyst at Current
Analysis. But the key for Macromedia is keeping ColdFusion's installed base,
which numbers around 700,000 developers, content. "Some users like the
way it is and think Java is trendy, so they may hesitate to make any radical
changes."

Analysts and users say Macromedia needs to deliver more stable products in
ColdFusion 5.0 and beyond than it did with Version 4.5. Some customers complained
of problems when running ColdFusion 4.5 in Windows NT environments, for example.

Then there's the trick of satisfying both Macromedia and Allaire customers
while merging the companies' technologies.

"The concern ... is that in the next versions we will start seeing more
of a Macromedia style of product [such as graphical front-end features] while
losing the familiarity and strengths of previous versions of ColdFusion,"
says Jeff Acker, president of Topham Holdings in Edmonton, Alberta. "Nevertheless,
I feel that Version 5 will satisfy both groups and buy some time for Macromedia
to work on Version 6."

Macromedia didn't return calls by press time.

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