Callisto is here .

By the way what is callisto ?

Quote- Eclipse.org
Callisto is about improving the productivity of the developers working on top of Eclipse frameworks by providing a more transparent and predictable development cycle. By releasing 10 projects at the same time, the goal is to eliminate uncertainty about version compatibility and make it easier to incorporate multiple projects into your environment.
While Callisto is about the simultaneous release of ten projects, it is not a unification of the projects - each project remains a separate open source project operating with its own project leadership, its own committers, and its own project plan.

The 10 projects are
Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) Project
C/C++ IDE (CDT)
Data Tools Platform (DTP)
Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF)
Graphical Editing Framework (GEF)
Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF)
Eclipse Project
Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform Project (TPTP)
Eclipse Web Tools Platform Project (WTP)
Visual Editor (VE)
Find more about callisto in http://www.eclipse.org/callisto/

Callisto in simple words is eclipse with lot more plugins. There are so many of them.
When I came to know about callisto, I was quite happy and wanted to download it first.( Thanks to my 512kbps cable internet). As usual I went to eclipse.org and checked for usual options and eclipse gave me 3 links and confused me. How do I get callisto??

1. Do I build java application
2. Do I build plugins
3. Do I work in C++ applications

Hmm. I want to do 1 & 2. I prefer my solaris platform for C++ applications.There was an option customize callisto installtion. So here I am…

This starts with a Eclipse Platform Runtime Binaries. From this starting point, using the Callisto Discovery Site you can add as few or as many of the features produced by the ten projects involved in the Callisto release train as you need
In parallel I checked Eclipse Distros (http://www.eclipse.org/callisto/downloads.php)This was more organized. Eclipse Distros contains downloads of Callisto related projects - plus some interesting bundles and additional software from member sites.
Among them IBMs package sounded better for initial installation.
Enterprise project bundle: Contains all three bundles, including core Eclipse 3.2.1, Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP), Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform (TPTP) 4.2.1, Eclipse Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF), and all prerequisites
This bundles was about size..287 MB. So thats its.
Another bundle which impressed me was yoxos bundle. 228 mb
My next post will provide details on installation and finding plugins.
This is what I did when I tried to explore callisto.

Installing Callisto

Install Eclipse V3.2 and start installing plug-ins from the Callisto Discovery Site:
Download the latest version of the V3.2.x Eclipse SDK.
After you download the file, extract it into any directory. Try C if you have enough space or D:
Once the Eclipse files are extracted into a directory, you can start Eclipse by double-clicking the eclipse.exe file or the Eclipse icon. Ensure that you have jre version 1.4+ is installed.
When Eclipse starts for the first time or opens a new workspace, it displays a Welcome view that you can use to go through tutorials, get extra help, or view samples.
Click the Workbench icon to go straight to using Eclipse. You can always see the Welcome view later by selecting the Help > Welcome menu item.

Adding new features

To add new features to Eclipse from the Callisto Discovery Site:

Go to Help -> Software Updates -> Find and Install.
From Install/Update, select Search for new features to install, and click Next.
Select the Callisto Discovery Site from the list of sites to include in the search. Click Finish to start the search for features.
From Updates, select the features to install and click Next. If you get a warning about missing dependencies, click Select Required to have Eclipse automatically sort out your dependencies for you. After you click Next, you’re prompted to read license agreements and agree to them or disagree, then to proceed with the actual installation. You will have restart eclipse once installation is completed.
As in previous versions of Eclipse, you can add new sites to install other features.
Let me know if you face any issues.

Hmm… Not over yet Some questions for you
1. How long you been using eclipse
2. Have you developed any eclipse plugins
3. Are you using Callisto? What do you feel about the same ?
source -
1. eclipse.org