Software firm plans free release

Research Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak, will provide a new, free IDL distribution platform with the upcoming release of IDL 6.0, scheduled for July. IDL Virtual Machine (VM) is designed to provide a simple, no-cost method for IDL users and software developers to distribute and share compiled IDL code. The new IDL VM will allow both novice and advanced software developers to distribute compiled IDL software code, applets, or applications without additional runtime licensing or runtime license fees. IDL VM will be included with IDL 6.0 and made available for all IDL-supported platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and the Unix operating systems. New features in IDL 6.0 include interactive utilities called iTools, which give IDL users the power to perform ad hoc data analysis and visualization. RSI released IDL 6.0 to beta testers in May 2003.