Oracle took aim at competing Java development tool makers Monday when it released the latest version of its Java integrated development environment (IDE), Oracle9i JDeveloper 9.0.3.

Oracle is taking aim at competitors like IBM and Borland on price. The new version of JDeveloper is $995 per named user, as compared to the $2,999 price tag on Borland's JBuilder, and the $3,400 ($7,500 for the enterprise version) tag on IBM's WebSphere Studio Application Developer.

Oracle said developers can download JDeveloper for evaluation free from its online developer community, Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

The latest version of JDeveloper adds full support for J2EE 1.3 specifications, more Web services support, and built in integration with open source software like Apache Ant, Jakarta Struts, JUnit and CVS. But Oracle is really playing up the new MyJDeveloper Extension Manager, a tool which allows developers to tailor their Java development environments to the types of applications they are building, as well as development style and skill level. Developers will have the option to enable or disable product extensions and functionality to meet their requirements. It also allows them to download and install product extensions and updates directly from the OTN as they become available.

On the standards and specifications front, JDeveloper 9.0.3 supports the complete range of J2EE 1.3 specifications, and offers built-in Unified Modeling Language (UML) modeling and generation support for EJB 2.0, including sessions beans, entity beans and message driven beans.

As for Web services, the new release introduces new testing tools for Web services development, including the integrated TCP Packet Monitor to debug SOAP messages.