Microsoft Open Technologies and Azul Systems announced at JavaOne the availability of Zulu for Windows Azure, Azul's new build of the community-driven open source Java implementation, known as OpenJDK, for Windows Server on the Windows Azure platform.
NOTE: The Zulu technology preview is available immediately for free download and use under the terms of the GPLv2 open source license. Zulu is available for download here.
Built and distributed by Azul Systems, Zulu is a JDK (Java Development Kit), and a compliant implementation of the Java Standard Edition (SE) 7 specification. Zulu has been verified by passing all tests in the Java SE 7 version of the OpenJDK Community TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit).
With the support of Azul Systems and MS Open Tech, users are "assured of a high-quality foundation" for their Java implementations while leveraging the latest advancements from the community in OpenJDK.
Key details of Azul Zulu include free and open source offering, based on OpenJDK, compatible with Java SE 7, verified using Java SE 7 OpenJDK Community TCK, integrated with MS Open Tech's Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java tooling, patches, and bug fixes contributed back to the OpenJDK community by Azul.
Jean Paoli, president of MS Open Tech said, "Java developers have many development and deployment choices for their applications, and today MS Open Tech and Azul made it easier for Java developers to build and run modern applications in Microsoft's open cloud platform."
Scott Sellers, president and CEO of Azul Systems said, "Azul is delighted to announce that Zulu is fully tested, free, open source, and ready for the Java community to download and preview — today. We are looking forward to serving the global Java community with this important new offering for the Azure cloud."