So, big news for portlet developers...finally portlet spec 2.0 is taking off.  JSR 286 was announced today.  Highlights include:

• alignment with WSRP 2.0
• inter-portlet communication
• alignment with JSF
• support for CC/PP data via JSR 188

JSR-168 is way behind where WSRP 2.0 has lead, so there is catching up to do there.  Inter-portlet communication is probably the most commonly requested feature for portlets and is already provided through extensions to JSR-168 from IBM and Sun's Portal Server 7, so it's time to formalize it in the spec.  Support for CC/PP means better support for portlets on mobile devices.

And aligning portlets with JSF is good news for Java Studio Creator.  Creator's new portlet development feature is based on JSF portlets.  JSF is a powerful framework and Creator makes it a snap to create slick portlets, so tying them more closely together formaly in the spec means improved funcationality for portlet developers using JSF and Creator.

...and in other news, now you can do it all for free.  With today's Sun Solaris ES announcement, you can download Java ES (including Sun Portal Server) and Creator for free and take them for a spin.