Yahoo announced yesterday that it was releasing version 2.6 of its popular Yahoo User Interface (YUI) library, a collection of JavaScript objects and functions for client-side Web programming. YUI, distributed under the BSD license, is similar to such open-source JavaScript libraries as jQuery (see related story), Dojo, and Prototype/Scriptaculous. Note that this release is not the same as YUI 3.0, a preview of which was released earlier this year, and which will not be backward compatible with version 2.x.

jQuery, one of the best-known open-source libraries for JavaScript access and manipulation, was tapped earlier this week as Microsoft's choice for JavaScript library. This means that jQuery will be integrated into Microsoft's Visual Studio developer tools, with additional integration into the ASP.NET Ajax framework. This announcement came on the same day as a similar one from Nokia, which announced that jQuery would be integrated into its Web run-time platform. Announcements were made in a variety of locations, including Rey Blango's blog, and posts by Microsoft programmers Scott Guthrie and Scott Hanelsman. The original author of jQuery, John Resig, wrote a blog post that not only announced the news, but described some of the improvements that will come to jQuery as a result, including additional software testing.

Actuate, a maker of business intelligence, performance management and Java reporting software--and also an active member of the Eclipse Foundation--has just released the preliminary results of its annual open source survey. The survey included about 1,000 business and IT people, and was independently conducted by Survey Interactive. Among the findings, European firms appeared more receptive to open source than other companies around the world, especially in France and Germany.