We began planning for EAP 6.0 just over 4 months after I took over from Sacha. Having been with JBoss since 2005 and lived through various AS and EAP releases, I knew how important this new version would be. We had EE6 in its final stages of ratification in the JCP, with core capabilities such as CDI and Bean Validation that we had lead; there were new projects that were related to that effort in the JBoss world and new people in various positions (not just me) to lead this. But if history had told me anything, it was that it wouldn't be an easy ride; we've have ups and downs, highs and lows over the years and it's inevitable that things won't always go according to plan with an effort as significant as EAP 6.0. But I felt that the team could produce the world's best EE6 compliant application server in the community and likewise for our customers.

Well if you've followed our progress over the past months and years you'll know that we did it in the community first (of course!) with our certified Web Profile implementation and then Full Profile release. I won't go on again about all of the good things you'll find in the new application server, except to remind everyone that they include significant improvements in performance, reliability and ease of use. And lightweight? Of course! But the community release was only the first step towards EAP 6. Between then and now we've run an extremely successful Early Access program, which has allowed us to make further improvements based on feedback from those users. We've also put the code through probably the most rigorous testing that I've seen for any application server I've worked on (and I've worked on a few, across several different companies). We've worked on the docs, quickstarts, training, support and a host of other materials that are often taken for granted and yet are just as critical to a successful product as the code itself. Looking back on all of this, I'm surprised that we managed to accomplish so much in relatively little time! But today is the official release announcement. And you'll hear more about EAP 6 at JBossWorld next week of course!

I've had the privilege of being involved with some of the best software developers and managers I know, and watched them create a quality offering in the community and now for our customers too. The feedback we've received since the first community releases has been overwhelmingly positive, as has the early access feedback. And we've even managed to find time to put it on to OpenShift, where it has been successfull as well! I'm confident that we'll build on this success as we move forward with point releases for EAP 6, other products that will be based on EAP 6 and of course, slightly longer term, EAP 7 and beyond! After having seen how well we've worked as a unified team (engineers, QA, docs, support, product managers etc.) I don't think there's much we can't do if we set our minds to it! Though I think everyone deserves a bit of a rest now and time to recharge those batteries!!

So with that I just want to end by saying a very big thank you to everyone involved in the EAP 6.0 adventure. Whether you helped cut the code, test it, define what we had to do, use it, or anything else related to the product, you're all part of the team and can be justifiably proud of what we've all produced. And I also want to say thanks to Sacha for giving me this opportunity!

Onward!