Microsoft designed WebMatrix to ease website development
Microsoft plans to launch an application on Thursday for quickly ramping up websites and lightweight Web applications, called WebMatrix.
The company plans to unveil the software at the CodeMash Web development conference in Sandusky, Ohio, according to a post in the Microsoft Public Sector Developer Weblog.
"With WebMatrix, we are simplifying how you build Web sites on Windows and including everything you need to build, run and deploy your Web site for free," wrote Microsoft technology evangelist Laurence Moroney, in a Microsoft blog entry first announcing the technology last July.

Using Microsoft's ASP (Active Server Pages) Web platform, the software package includes a code and database editor as well as lightweight server software, IIS Developer Express and a lightweight database, SQL Server Compact Edition.

To aid in design, the software package includes a number of Web application and website templates. In addition, users can also import external ASP or PHP-based templates, including those based on WordPress, Joomla, DotNetNuke or other content management systems.

All the components are integrated, making for a unified design and deployment process. The software also includes links to a number of hosting providers. Once a hosting provider is chosen, the software can upload the website material to that location automatically.