0kay, that title might be considered about two months late by some, but please read on. For some people the most wonderful time of the year falls in the holiday season when friends, family and - best of all - presents surround them. For ColdFusion developers, though, this time of the year is proving to be much more exciting and it's just getting started. So far we've got the release of ColdFusion 4.5 - already with it's first little bug patch released, which is definitely a rite of passage for many new products these days. Some of the most anticipated products are Allaire Spectra, which has already shipped, and ColdFusion for Linux, which is in its final beta stages and will soon be out. If the beta is any indication of what's to come, all those people who are anti-NT will soon be very happy. These new product releases from Allaire and others are just one indication of what's happening in the industry.

If traffic on the CF hot spots on the Net are any indication, the use of ColdFusion is multiplying exponentially. This is great for the seasoned developer because it means more add-ons, more tags, more support on ISPs and ultimately a greater product base to draw from while developing. The more the merrier! To add to all the exciting news and announcements in the industry, we here at CFDJ have some of our own as well...

Readers' Choice Awards - Voting Has Begun!
Voting for the first annual ColdFusion Developer's Journal Readers' Choice Awards began on February 1 and will run until September 1. I personally am very excited about the awards, because unlike most other accolades given out in the software industry, the Readers' Choice Awards represent the true opinion of readers and developers...of you, the people whose opinions really count. Categories represented in the awards include Best Book, Best Consulting Service, Best Custom Tag, Best Database Tool, Best Design Service, Best E-Business Software, Best Education and Training, Best Testing Tool, Best Web Development Tool, Best Web Hosting, Best Web Performance Tool, Best Web Site. These categories were chosen by our editors and echoed by the companies that nominated products. They cover just about everything that's available, and the final results when announced should provide a clear view of the best of the best.

The voting form is located at www.sys-con.com/coldfusion/readers- choice2000. As I'm sure you'll notice immediately, the entire system was developed using ColdFusion. J Live voting updates are available on the Web site, along with graphs charting the progress. The awards will be announced and presented to the winners at the Allaire conference in September.

Starting with This Issue...
You'll notice an ongoing feature series starting with this issue: "A Beginner's Guide to ColdFusion." Due to reader demand to cover some beginners' topics along with the advanced ones we hit on every month, we'll draw material from Ben Forta's highly successful The Coldfusion 4.0 Web Application Construction Kit. For CF old-timers it'll be a nice trip down memory lane or a good way to brush up on some simple concepts that sometimes can get lost in the mix. For the newbies it should be a great way to start getting up to speed, bridging the gap between beginner and advanced.

Until next time...