Azul Systems, the leader in Java runtime solutions, has announced that Zulu, its freely-available version of OpenJDK, now extends support for both Java 6 and Java 7 on Linux and Windows-based and cloud deployments. Available immediately, the OpenJDK is supported via the Zulu Community Support forums. The firm has also announced Zulu Enterprise, which is a commercially supported version of OpenJDK.

Azul Systems is known for its high-performance Java-based solution. The company also offers Zing, a highly optimized Java virtual machine designed for enterprise Java applications.

The OpenJDK platform is now supported on a range of Linux and Windows versions including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 or later and 6.0 or later, CentOS 5.2 or later and 6.0 or later, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 sp1, sp2 and spa and Ubuntu Desktop and Server 10.04 LTS and 12.04 LTS, Windows 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2 Server, Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 Desktop, VMware, Hyper-V, KVM hypervisors, Amazon AWS, Windows Azure, and Rackspace.

“Azul has always been dedicated to Java and the Java community in providing best-of-breed solutions for Java enterprise developers and users,” said Scott Sellers, President and CEO of Azul Systems. “Today’s announcement of expanded platform support for Zulu is all about providing enterprises and Java users a compelling new choice of Java platform that is freely available, 100% open source based on OpenJDK, multi-platform, and standards compliant. Zulu users gain all the availability and flexibility advantages of a pure open source solution combined with the stability, reliability and peace of mind of a fully supported, enterprise-class product.”

Alongside this release, the Zulu Community Forums has been introduced to greatly expand support for the Java community. The forum is designed for Java programmers, DevOps personnel, product managers and developers to lend a hand with open source technologies that depend upon either Java or the JVM.

Zulu Enterprise

Azul has also announced Zulu Enterprise, which is a commercially supported version of OpenJDK. Zulu Enterprise is a fully supported build of OpenJDK with a battery of subscription support options, making it suitable for broad deployment across the enterprise.

Azul is highlighting the Zulu Enterprise as being the commercial solution for firms that have invested heavily in applications running on various versions of Java and those who need cost-effective ongoing support for these applications.

“With Zulu Enterprise, for the first time there is a commercialized version of OpenJDK with multi-platform support,” said Scott Sellers, President and CEO of Azul Systems. “The Java Community now has a compelling new choice in a fully-supported, enterprise-class Java SE solution based on the open source OpenJDK. Zulu Enterprise enables enterprises to run their Java applications their way, in their chosen environment and on their time-table of version evolution; cost effectively, reliably and dependably.”

With Zulu Enterprise, firms will get a 10-year support lifetime for major releases, alongside customer access to bug and security fixes out of the standard release cycle. Azul said that it is offering support for various Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, and CentOS Linux distributions and Microsoft Windows Server. Cloud support includes Amazon AWS, Microsoft Windows Azure, and Rackspace, commercial support 24 hours a day, all year round, and various tiered (Gold, Platinum, and Elite) cost-effective, subscription-based support options.

The company is also offering unique support options including Application Guard and dedicated Technical Account Managers. With Application Guard, the Zulu JDK/JVM is tested against a customer’s specific operating system and configuration and incorporated into Azul’s quality assurance processes.

In September last year, Microsoft and Azul announced step forward in their move to bring Java in the cloud to the masses as the two companies launched Zulu, an OpenJDK build for Windows Azure. The companies also integrated the Windows Azure plugin for Eclipse so developers working with the popular open source development environment to deploy Zulu Java VM’s.