Qt Software has announced the availability of Qt 4.5, the latest version of its cross-platform application and UI framework. At the same time the company rolled out Qt Creator, a lightweight cross-platform IDE. And for the first time, Qt will include the LGPL licensing option to go along with the Commercial License and GPL licensing options currently available. By adding the LGPL license for Qt, developers can add their proprietary applications on top of Qt without paying a licensing fee.
Qt Software claims Qt 4.5 improves integration with the WebKit web rendering engine which blends web and native content into a richer user experience. This is made possible by:
- Netscape Plugin API support; allowing Qt applications to load Flash (such as the YouTube player)
- More advanced web UI effects, including animations, transformations and zooming
- New JavaScript engine for better performance
Qt 4.5 has also been ported to Apple's Cocoa framework. Previously Qt supported only the Carbon framework, but with Qt 4.5, Qt can now support both. This means developers can create applications that support 32- or 64 bit, Intel or PowerPC Mac binaries from a single source.
Qt Creator includes:
- An advanced C++ code editor
- Context sensitive help system
- Visual debugger
- Source code management
- Project and build management tools
Qt Creator will be available under the terms of the LGPL 2.1 license and be open for contributions. Currently Qt Creator only supports desktop platforms for Qt development (Windows, Linux, and Mac OS), however Qt Software says that support for embedded platforms will be added in the coming months.
