Jamba 2.0 takes on ShockWave

Aimtech is going into the final lap with version 2.0 of Jamba, its Java authoring tool for non-programmers. Key new features include an animation tool based on sequential timelines; Wizards for hand-holding on tasks such as creating banners, tickertape text strings and presentation graphics; smaller Java classes; and a cleaner user interface. Power developers also get access to variables such as If/Then.

"It's raw Java, not limited to Windows and Macintosh like [Macromedia's] ShockWave, so you avoid what Webmasters call 'the plug-in nightmare'," said Aimtech CEO Andrew Huffman on a visit to London today. "With ShockWave you have to download it separately, which is an hour on a 28.8kbps line when you have to see an animation. The second problem is it uses one big file for the content. If you run ShockWave you know it won't run Unix or NCs and you have to program in conditional HTML for different browsers and slower links. We're focusing on Java and that's a battle [Macromedia] can't win. Java is a better bet in the long run than a particular plug-in called ShockWave."

Jamba 2.0 will retail for £229 (£49 upgrade) when it ships in June.