NetBeans IDE is a open-source Integrated Development Environment for software developers.

The IDE runs on many platforms including Windows, Linux, Solaris, and the MacOS. It is easy to install and use straight out of the box.

NetBeans IDE will provide programmers with a full-featured package of applications which they need to create professional cross-platform desktop, enterprise, web and mobile applications.

Design Swing GUIs intuitively by dragging and dropping GUI components from a palette onto a canvas, then click into JLabels, JButtons, JTextFields and edit the text directly in place. You can even use the GUI builder to prototype GUIs right in front of customers. The NetBeans IDE comes with built-in support for GUI localisation and accessibility. 

NetBeans IDE 6.5 for JavaFX 1.0 supports developing, debugging, and deploying JavaFX applications. It is a full-featured development environment that includes the JavaFX 1.0 SDK, building block samples, and the JavaFX 1.0 Plugin for NetBeans. 

NetBeans IDE 6.5 for JavaFX 1.0 is a significant update to the Preview release and includes the following changes.
- For Microsoft Windows, JDK 6 Update 7 is now the minimum supported version of the Java SE Development Kit (JDK). For Apple Macintosh, JDK 5 Update 13 (version 1.5.0_13) is now the minimum supported version of the JDK.
- Preview is now supported on the Mac.
- Javadoc is now supported in the Editor, Navigator, and View windows
- The SDK JavaFXpackager tool is now included.

Here are some key features of "NetBeans IDE":

· Development Cycle Tools
· NetBeans Swing GUI Builder (formerly "Project Matisse")
· Ant-based Project System and Customizable Environment
· Integrated Version Control
· NetBeans Profiler
· NetBeans Debugger
· Developer Collaboration
· Source Code Editor
· Java and JSP Development
· Advanced Code Refactoring
· XML Editor
· C/C++ Development
· Web Application Development (Java Enterprise Edition)
· Web Development with JSP, JSF and Struts
· EJB Development
· Visual Web Application Development for AJAX, CSS and JSF
· Web Service Development (Java Enterprise Edition)
· Rich Client Platform and Plug-in Module Development
· Rich Client Platform Development
· Plug-in Module Development
· Mobile Application Development (Java Micro Edition)
· Java ME CLDC Features (MIDP)
· Java ME Development Cycle Tools
· Java ME CDC Features
· Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Development
· XML Schema Development Tools
· Two-Way BPEL Development Tools
· Identity Web Service Management
· UML Modelling

Requirements:

· Minimum Hardware Configurations
· Processor: 500 MHz Intel Pentium III workstation or equivalent
· Memory: 512 MB
· Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space
· Recommended Hardware Configurations
· Processor: 1.4 GHz Intel Pentium III workstation or equivalent
· Memory: 1 GB
· Disk space: 1 GB of free disk space
· Java Development Kit

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· NetBeans IDE 6.8 Beta is the first IDE to offer support for the entire Java EE 6 spec with improved support for JSF 2.0/Facelets, Java Persistence 2.0, EJB 3.1 including using EJBs in web applications, RESTful web services, and GlassFish v3. We also recommend it for developing with the latest JavaFX SDK 1.2.1, and for creating PHP web applications with the new PHP 5.3 release or with the Symfony Framework.