You can download a 30-day evaluation license by registering here or purchase a commercial license from Mainsoft sales.

Grasshopper is designed for small user group deployments. It offers many of the features included in the Enterprise and Portal Editions, and can be deployed on the Apache Tomcat application server, running on a single-CPU computer. It comes with no support and no warranty. Read the Developer Edition license agreement for more information. Mainsoft for Java EE, Enterprise Edition, is designed for enterprise developers and large group deployments.

Mainsoft's Portal Edition is licensed per developer and per deployed CPU. It costs $20,000 per CPU and $6,000 per developer seat, including first year of support and maintenance. Standard Support and Maintenance are 20% of the license fees for following years. Mainframe license costs $40,000 per IFL processor and $6,000 per developer seat, including first year of support and maintenance. Volume discounts are available.

Unfortunately not, since the Visual Studio Express Edition has a limited support for extensibility that does not match the tight integration needs of Mainsoft for Java EE. You need to install Visual Studio Standard or Professional Edition to use Mainsoft for Java EE.

Mainsoft's QA team uses standard, commercial, and proprietary test suites as well as real world integrative applications comprised of 4.7 million lines of code to ensure that the .NET Framework used in Mainsoft for Java EE is enterprise-ready. We use the Microsoft Shared Source CLI test suites, OASIS, NIST, and WS-I test suites, as well as commercial test suites including the PlumHall C# test suite. Finally, we've designed Mainsoft for Java EE to be self-hosted. The .

No. Mainsoft for Java EE converts Microsoft Common Intermediate Language (MSIL) bytecode directly to Java bytecode. The final executed code is native Java code.

Yes. Mainsoft is part of the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program, which ensures our cross-platform technologies meet the highest requirements for an add-on. Mainsoft for Java EE's cross compiler is based on ECMA CLI and ECMA C# specifications and generates Java bytecode compliant with the Java Virtual Machine specifications.

Mainsoft's runtime strategy is based on Java EE and proven enterprise quality and platform availability. Mono implements its own .NET execution engine, the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), on several Linux and UNIX-based platforms. Mainsoft for Java EE focuses exclusively on Web and server applications, while Mono also supports desktop applications, with Gtk# and Windows.Forms.

Yes. Mainsoft is sponsoring Visual Studio developers' contributions to the Mono project. For the first time, you can use Visual Studio to contribute to the Mono project. Download Grasshopper Framework sources directly from the Mono tree and submit your classes, fixes and enhancements. Get involved with the Mono developer community using the mono-devel-list. Your contribution will be integrated directly in the next Grasshopper release. For more details, see Download the Source Code.

The core technology is the cross compiler that converts the Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) code to Java bytecode. This infrastructure generates native Java applications from C# or VB source code. A Visual Studio plug-in that seamlessly integrates Mainsoft for Java EE extends the IDE functionalities cross-platform. The Mono .NET Framework is rehosted on top of the Java EE infrastructures, allowing you to port .NET applications to Java EE.

No. Mainsoft for Java EE is a proprietary product, with commercial and freely available editions with an open source runtime. Mainsoft is an active contributor to the Mono open source project. You can download the Mono-based class libraries and contribute to the Mono project using Mainsoft for Java EE.

Yes, you can download the Grasshopper Framework sources, browse them, edit them, and recompile them using Mainsoft for Java EE. You can contribute your enhancements to us, through the Grasshopper Forums, and we will synchronize them with Mono, or you can post them to the Mono community directly. Currently most of the Grasshopper Framework assemblies are directly developed within the Mono SVN codebase, and you can download the Mono sources to get the latest sources.

Development machines must be Windows machines running Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, or Windows Vista. You also need to install Visual Studio 2005, Service Pack 1. Check the Mainsoft for Java EE Release Notes for further details. If you're using Mainsoft for Java EE to develop for IBM WebSphere Application Server or IBM WebSphere Portal, we recommend you have at least 1GB of physical memory. Check the Mainsoft for Java EE Release Notes for further details.

Mainsoft for Java EE uses JDBC as its underlying technology for connecting to databases. While all databases with a valid JDBC driver can be used with Mainsoft for Java EE, we have certified:

You can port any type of .NET Web or server applications such as ASP.NET applications, ASP.NET Web services, remoting servers, tcp/ip servers, class libraries, and console applications. You cannot port desktop applications using Windows.Forms.

Mainsoft for Java EE supports.NET technologies used by enterprise server and Web applications. Mainsoft .NET Framework includes the following assemblies: mscorlib, System, System.Web, System.Web.Services, System.XML, System.Data, System.Drawing, System.DirectoryServices, System.Runtime.Remoting, System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap, Microsoft.VisualBasic, System.Configuration, and System.Data.OracleClient.

Both Mainsoft for Java EE and Mainsoft for UNIX and Linux open Microsoft development technologies to multiple platforms. Mainsoft for Java EE is designed for managed .NET code and technologies and delivers Java EE applications, whereas Mainsoft for UNIX and Linux (C++) addresses the unmanaged C++ development technologies and delivers native UNIX and Linux applications. For more information on Mainsoft for UNIX and Linux, refer to the Mainsoft for UNIX & Linux FAQ.

The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is a set of coordinated specifications and practices that together enable solutions for developing, deploying, and managing multi-tier server-centric applications. Building on the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE), the J2EE platform adds the capabilities necessary to provide a complete, stable, secure, and fast Java platform to the enterprise level.

Yes, developers can import any Java class library into a Mainsoft for Java EE project and use it as a native C# or Visual Basic class. See Adding Java references in the online help.

Yes. Mainsoft for Java EE produces 100% Java-compliant code, which relies on the built-in Java Virtual Machine types. The application will perform similarly to code compiled from Java sources. The Mainsoft cross compiler has been optimized to reduce runtime type checking. It performs a static analysis to create the optimized code.

No. Mainsoft for Java EE is an extension of the Visual Studio development environment. You can develop Java EE applications using the same tools and techniques you use to develop .NET applications.

Yes. This is the recommended way to interact with a database. It greatly improves the performance of database communications, and it provides the most flexibility during deployment. Yes. Mainsoft for Java EE generates the web.xml, portlet.xml (in portal applications), and the application server specific deployment descriptors that your Java EE administrator needs to deploy and maintain your application using Java EE administration tools.

Yes, future versions will deliver support for Microsoft Atlas extensions, Visual Studio 2007 ? code named Orcas ? and specific components in .NET Framework 3.0, namely Windows Communication Framework and Windows Workflow Framework. Mainsoft's plans for Framework 3.5 are yet to be defined.

Mainsoft for Java EE provides two new project types, Visual C# for Java EE and Visual Basic for Java EE, which are very similar to Visual Studio C# and VB project types. The Mainsoft project types extend multiple functionalities, such as: Build process: The Microsoft compiler creates the MSIL DLL and then invokes the Mainsoft for Java EE compiler. Once the build is complete, Mainsoft for Java EE deploys the final Web Java binary as a WAR (Web Archive) file, onto the Java EE application server.

The Mainsoft for Java EE .NET Framework is built on the Mono .NET class library re-hosted to the Java EE infrastructure. Mainsoft designed the runtime according to the following architectural tenets: The deployed applications are compliant to the Java EE specifications, have full access to application server services, and are manageable through the regular Java EE application server management tools and by Java EE administrators. The .

All of Mainsoft's .NET Framework assemblies are open source, with the exception of mscorlib, which is Mainsoft's proprietary implementation of the .NET core library on top of Java EE.

Mainsoft applications are pure Java applications and as such they do not impose runtime requirements beyond those of Tomcat or the application server you decided to use. For system requirements of Linux deployments, refer to the article, Configuring your Linux box to deploy your Grasshopper application.

Yes. Mainsoft supports the required .NET Framework components, including System.Web to port ASP.NET Web applications to the Java EE platform.

Yes. Mainsoft supports the required .NET Framework components, attributes, and access points, including System.Web, System.WebServices, and System.XML, and it supports the WebServices and WebMethod attributes and .asmx entry points to enable you to port ASP.NET XML Web services to Java EE.

Mainsoft provides Java EE project templates for Web applications, portal applications, Web services, Web control libraries, console applications, and class libraries. You can use any Java class library in your project and consume Web services. Yes. Mainsoft-based ASP.NET Web applications and Web services are Java EE servlets. Mainsoft ASP.NET project templates include the web.xml servlet deployment descriptor file that you can update to configure your Java EE security settings.