What's Coming in ArcGIS 9.3.1?

<P><a href="http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/whats-new/whats-coming.html" target="_blank" >http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/whats-new/whats-coming.html</A></P>

<P>ArcGIS 9.3.1 improves the performance of dynamic map publishing and increases the sharing of geographic information.</P>
<H2>High-Performance Dynamic Map Publishing</H2>
<UL>
<LI>New faster drawing map service
<UL>
<LI>Outperforms equivalent ArcIMS services.
<LI>Produces significantly better-looking maps.
<LI>Shortens map caching time. </LI></UL>
<LI>New Map Service Publishing toolbar in ArcMap helps you tune-up your map documents before publishing to ArcGIS Server.
<UL>
<LI>Review and respond to errors, unsupported content, and warnings about items that will slow down your dynamic map services.
<LI>Preview your map document and estimated rendering time.
<LI>Save your map document to a map service definition (msd) format, which is optimized for performance in ArcGIS Server. </LI></UL></LI></UL>
<H2>Better Sharing of Geographic Information</H2>
<UL>
<LI>Better sharing of layers
<UL>
<LI>Layers referencing feature or raster data can be packaged into a single package file of a layer file and data
<LI>These layer packages can be shared with other users via files, e-mail, or the new ArcGIS Online sharing capability.
<LI>ArcGIS Online sharing supports
<UL>
<LI>Data upload and registration of online services
<LI>Web search of layers
<LI>Organization, community groups, and control access to layers
<LI>Interactive composition of dynamic Web map mash-ups of services </LI></UL></LI></UL></LI></UL>
<H2>Enhanced Support for Java Developers</H2>
<UL>
<LI>Ability to extend the ArcGIS/ArcObjects Framework. Java developers can now create the following extensions in their native language:
<UL>
<LI>Custom geoprocessing tools
<LI>Server object extensions (SOEs) and utility objects for ArcGIS Server
<LI>Class extensions for customized data behavior in a geodatabase
<LI>Custom renderers for customized rendering of data in ArcMap and ArcGIS Engine applications
<LI>Plug-in data sources </LI></UL>
<LI>Tools for debugging, registering and deploying Java extensions for ArcGIS
<LI>Support for Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE)
<UL>
<LI>Wizards to generate boilerplate code based on the developer's specification
<LI>Autodeploy feature </LI></UL></LI></UL>
<H2>Easy to Install</H2>
<UL>
<LI>Upgrading to ArcGIS 9.3.1 does not require uninstalling ArcGIS 9.3.
<LI>Easy to migrate or work in mixed environments of ArcGIS 9.3 and ArcGIS 9.3.1 within the same organization since geodatabases, map documents, and APIs did not change. </LI></UL>
<H2>Availability</H2>
<P>ArcGIS 9.3.1 is scheduled to be available in Q2 2009. ESRI will automatically ship ArcGIS 9.3.1 to users current on maintenance.</P>