REAL Software has begun shipping REALbasic 2006 Release 4, offering developers targetting the Mac platform the opportunity to create apps ready to run natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based boxes by selecting a single checkbox.

With Release 4, REALbasic 2006 is itself now just such a Universal binary, yielding compile times typically half that of the previous release, which shipped earlier this year. The rapid application development tool is also available in Windows and Linux versions. All three versions can be used to target their host and the other platforms.

REAL said the new release includes new, cross-platform toolbar creation tools, an end to the 2GB file-size limit applied to past REALbasic-created apps, code error-checking without the need to compile, a new Currency data type, extended support for 64-bit integers and some overall reliability improvements.

REALbasic ships in Standard and Pro editions, the latter adding enterprise-oriented database and network functionality. Release 4 Professional Edition now incorporates AES 256 encryption in REAL SQL databases, and features a re-written SSL module which supports switching to and from secure mode on demand and secure listening.

REALbasic 2006 Release 4 is free to existing REALbasic 2006 users with an active update plan. Upgrade pricing for older versions runs from $50. More details here. ®