News

Intersoft Updates WebUI Studio.NET Components

• By Michael Desmond
• October 9, 2008

Indonesian component maker Intersoft Solutions Corp. last month released a new version of its controls and components suite for ASP.NET -- and Silverlight-based Web development.

Intersoft says the new release, called WebUI Studio.NET 2008 R2, adds hundreds of new features, including the rebuilt WebSchedule.NET calendar component and the improved WebGrid.NET Enterprise grid control.

The suite adds support for Silverlight 2.0, Microsoft's rich Internet application framework and cross-platform runtime that encapsulates a robust subset of the .NET CLR.

The WebAqua.NET UI component was entirely rewritten for Silverlight 2.0, according to Intersoft CTO Andry Handoko Soesilo, and includes updated versions of both the WebFishEye.NET docking navigation control and the WebCoverFlow.NET Web-based multimedia player.

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WebFishEye.NET includes both grid- and arc-style layouts.

"Since Silverlight 2.0, we're now able to create Silverlight components that can be used inside Expression Blend and/or the Visual Studio 2008 Silverlight development environment," Soesilo says. "By doing this, we're taking into account all the latest improvements available in Silverlight 2.0, such as theming, databinding and templating. With these features, designers and developers can easily configure our components by using visual design-time experience provided in Expression Blend."

Nevertheless, there's no shortage of component suppliers, according to Peter O'Kelly, principal analyst at O'Kelly Consulting. "I think this is similar to earlier control/ component offerings -- basically reducing the amount of low-level coding application developers need to do by providing higher-level frameworks and widgets," says O'Kelly, adding that Intersoft has gained a noteworthy presence in the sector.

WebUI Studio.NET 2008 R2 costs $1,499 with a single developer license, with discounts offered for multiple licenses. A single, one-year subscription costs $1,699.