Xamlon Inc. announced Tuesday the availability of the second beta release of its Xamlon Pro, Compact Edition.

Xamlon, of La Jolla, Calif., specializes in delivering tools that enable developers to build applications using Microsoft Corp.'s XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language). The Xamlon Pro, Compact Edition targets the .Net Compact Framework and lets developers build XAML applications for the Pocket PC and smart phones, officials said.

The final version of the Compact Edition is expected to be available in late March, the company said.

Xamlon introduced Xamlon Pro, Windows Forms Edition in October for developers who wanted to develop XAML applications on the .Net Framework for Windows—versions from Windows 98 to current and targeting the upcoming Longhorn version of the operating system.

Although Microsoft announced XAML at its Professional Developer Conference in 2003, the technology is actually a component that will officially be released with Longhorn. XAML, an XML-based syntax, is the user interface language for the presentation layer of Longhorn, known as Avalon. Rather than wait for Longhorn, Xamlon developed its XAML engine based on public information Microsoft has released about the language.

Xamlon officials said Xamlon Pro, Compact Edition Beta 2 features vector graphic support greater than that which currently exists in the .Net Compact Framework. The Xamlon beta also features enhanced drawing capabilities not in the .Net Compact Framework and uses simple dynamic user interface generation to make customization and modification easier for developers, company officials said.

This article was first published on eweek.com.