Linux took a step nearer becoming a mainstream platform for corporate usewhen Borland released Kylix, a tool for developing enterprise applications onthe free operating system. Based on the company’s popular product Delphi, Kylix allows developers to create database and Web server applications, as well asdesktop GUI clients, all of which run as native object code binaries under Linux.Kylix’s compatibility with Delphi will make it easy to develop cross-platformapplications and to port Windows applications to the Linux platform. We take alook at Kylix in more detail, to help you decide if it has a role to play in yourcompany’s future development strategy. RADical Development If you’ve ever seen one of the popular Windows rapid application development(RAD) tools you’ll be instantly familiar with Kylix. The development environmentlooks exactly like those of Borland’s Delphi, C++Builder and JBuilder products,which in turn were closely modelled on Microsoft’s pioneering visual developmenttool Visual Basic. The main window sits at the top of the screen and contains theusual menus and toolbars for loading and saving projects, running and debuggingprograms and so on, plus a tabbed palette of visual components that you drop ontoa form to add functionality to your application. The form designer, code editor,project manager and other elements of the environment operate as free-floatingwindows, some of which hide themselves when not required to reduce screenclutter.