Curl Wednesday announced support for Ubuntu Linux, which will allow desktop Ubuntu users to easily see Curl-enhanced Web content on their computers without having to manually configure a player.

The rich Internet application (RIA) vendor said the Ubuntu Installer for its Curl 6.0 platform also provides tools for Web developers to create rich Internet content that will be viewable to Ubuntu users.

Bert Halstead, chief architect at the US-based company, said Ubuntu desktop users can download the Curl runtime environment for free to enable their computers to properly render the Curl enhanced code when viewing Web pages.

"It gives Ubuntu users the ability to see Curl content in the way it is meant to be seen," with enhanced features, Halstead said.

The new installer supports Ubuntu 7.10 and is expected to also work with the upcoming 8.04 release, he said.

Curl already has support for Red Hat 9 Linux, SUSE Enterprise Linux 9 and Turbolinux 10 and 11, as well as Microsoft XP and Vista. There are also beta versions for Mac OS X on PowerPC and Intel processors.

Curl's RIA platform competes with Adobe's AIR/Flex, Microsoft's Silverlight and Ajax. Richard Monson-Haefel, Curl's vice president of developer relations, said Curl allows developers to write their code once and then it is properly rendered for each operating system.

"Adding Ubuntu is a big step for us because Ubuntu is the biggest desktop Linux " in use, he said. Because Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution, any other Debian-based Linux should also work with the Ubuntu installer, he said.

The product is free for most users but there are licensing fees for enterprise users who want to use it internally and for users who charge for their online content.