Concurrent, a leading provider of technology solutions for mission-critical applications, is entering a new line of business by offering stand-alone software for Linux application developers.

The company believes that a shift is occurring in emerging markets as the number of customers demanding technology solutions based on open source and open standards continues to accelerate. According to an IDC study, industry sales of Linux servers surpassed the $1 billion mark in revenue for the fourth consecutive quarter, while in the second quarter of 2005 worldwide Linux sales grew 45 percent.

Until now, Concurrent's NightStar development tool suite has only been available on the RedHawk operating system. With the introduction of NightStar LX, the full development suite of tools is being made available through online sales for Red Hat Linux. The NightStar Toolset, which is already deployed by some of the largest automotive, aerospace and defense companies globally, will now become available for anyone developing time-critical applications.

"The need for software tools to debug, optimize and fine-tune applications crosses many market segments," said Warren Neuburger, COO of Concurrent. "We are broadening our operating plan to provide market access to our highly-prized software solutions on industry-standard Linux distributions. NightStar tools have demonstrated high value to software developers worldwide as an efficient tool set for applications development, particularly for those requiring multiprocessor or multithreaded performance," he added.

"In the embedded software market, Linux continues to gain momentum as an embedded operating system for development projects," said Stephen Balacco, Embedded Software Analyst at VDC. "Today Linux is the fastest growing segment in computer operating systems, growing more than 22 percent a year. The need for software tools to customize and adapt is critical. Concurrent is entering a marketplace ripe for tool kits and continued growth."

The NightStar LX tools were based upon Concurrent's vast experience in real-time operating systems like its RedHawk Linux. RedHawk Linux has gained acceptance as a leading real-time Linux operating system for high-performance applications by customers throughout the world because it guarantees that a user application can respond to an external event in less than 30 microseconds on a dedicated processor.