This topic provides a high level overview of what is new and changed in Version 6. The audience is anyone who is evaluating or planning to use Version 6.0.x, particularly users of previous versions or editions.
IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 6.0.x provides customers with better scaling so more concurrent users can access an application. This can help reduce administrative and licensing costs for companies and provides better flexibility to quickly bring additional user resources on board.
What is new for installers
The biggest improvement to the installation process is that now
you can install one copy of the core files (binary system files and processes)
on a machine, then use profiles to define multiple application server
runtime environments -- each with its own administrative interfaces -- that
share the core files. This improvement provides enhancements for preparing,
installing, maintaining, and removing installations, including a decreased
disk image footprint.
Another big change is the introduction of separate installation routines for the Application Server product, the Web server, the Web server plug-ins, and the clients so that you can install only what you need on a particular machine.
For additional details about each item, including links to relevant documentation, see What is new for installers.
What is new for administrators
For details about each item, including links to relevant documentation, see What is new for administrators.
What is new for security specialists
The biggest improvement in security involves the set of supported
specifications. See What is new for security specialists.
What is new for developers
The biggest improvement in
development is support for the J2EE 1.4 specification, enabling you to take
advantage of the latest Java technology, as described in Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) specification. All editions, including WebSphere Application
Server Express, are J2EE 1.4 compliant.
Another big change is the inclusion of several WebSphere programming model extensions in all WebSphere Application Server editions, that were formerly available only in certain editions. As a starting point for learning about the available extensions, see Learn about WebSphere programming extensions.
In addition, deploying applications has never been easier -- particularly redeploying updated applications or modules. For what is new with deployment, see New: Application deployment improvements.
For information about several smaller but significant changes in the development and assembly infrastructure, and for various types of WebSphere applications, see What is new for developers.
What is new for troubleshooters
The biggest change in troubleshooting support and serviceability
is increased ability to automatically detect and recover from problems. Many
serviceability improvements are described in the IBM Education Assistant presentation:Serviceability enhancements.
The troubleshooting section has been revamped and expanded to include extensive support information, including the ability to search live, Web-based support resources by using the customized query fields in the "Web search" page.
For details about these and other changes, see What is new for troubleshooters.
Improvements to this documentation
For additional details, see New features of this documentation.
Related concepts
Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) specification
Release Notes
New features of this documentation
Packaging
Cheat sheets for the administrative console
Related reference
Deprecated and removed features