V6R1

i5/OS V6R1 has been announced, to be available in 2008. Some of the planned features:

New, common (cross platform) JVM
New, integrated Web application server -- No more Tomcat???
Integrated Web services environment for Integrated Language Environment® ILE programs.
Multiplatform system management console
Encrypted backups to any tape or virtual tape device, encryption of data stored on disk, and intrusion protection.
Multithreading and addition of local file support for the RPG compiler

There is a major consideration to be aware of before installing V6R1 - Program Conversion. All programs will be re-encapsulated in order to be used with V6R1. This is simple and automatic if the programs were compiled at V5R1 or greater. If the programs were compiled at V4R5 and earlier, they can be automatically converted only if they have program observability information. Without observability, programs cannot be converted!

Many software vendors routinely delete observability information, so it is highly likely that if your System i has 3rd party software installed, you will require a new release of that software.

As with the CISC to RISC conversion, IBM have provided a CL program ANZOBJCVN to assist in identifying objects that will not convert to V6R1.