Micro Focus, a provider of enterprise application modernization solutions, announced it is shipping a new release of its COBOL application migration toolset, with support for Microsoft's latest operating system and integrated development environment. Visual COBOL 2.1 also includes many enhancements designed to facilitate an improved application developer experience, as well as deliver an upgrade path for core business applications.
“With support for the Windows 8 platform, Visual COBOL provides even greater developer productivity, collaboration, and quality improvements while reducing their costs and time to market,” Ed Airey, Micro Focus product marketing director for COBOL Products, tells 5 Minute Briefing.
The Windows 8 platform offers improved resource management, higher levels of CPU performance and scalability, and also a more streamlined OS user experience. Windows 8 also incorporates touchscreen capabilities for tablet computers, but COBOL developers are most likely to stick to basic PC access at this time, Airey adds. "Most re-hosted COBOL applications, as part of phased methodology, are moved to a modern distributed platform, such as Windows 8, with as little change as possible,” he explains. “This is the typical first objective with most re-platform activities.”
Airey doesn’t discount the possibility of tablet-enabling the front ends of COBOL applications down the road, however. “The movement to modernize is driving more attention to adopt new technologies such as the Windows 8 UI. I expect we'll see more interest and focus on the UI modernization of re-hosted COBOL applications with touch-screen and tile0type interfaces over time, with growing corporate adoption of the Windows 8 platform."
Along with support for Windows 8, Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.1 brings the productivity of modern IDEs, such as Microsoft's Visual Studio 2012, to COBOL environments. Visual COBOL is engineered to enable COBOL application deployment to Windows, .NET and the cloud.
For additional information, visit the Micro Focus website.