What’s (Not) New in OutSystems: A Product Timeline
The odyssey began in 2001. Since then, the OutSystems platform evolved with distinct highlights. Looking back, some of them might seem naive now, but that’s the charm of childhood, right?
Disclaimer: this blog post may come with a heavy dose of nostalgia.
17 Years Ago: Born in a Garage
It all started with a question: “What if, instead of trying to get the software right up front, changes were cheap and fast no matter the size of the application?” Almost sounds like a dream.
16 Years Ago: Hub Edition 1.0
In 2002, we got our first customer, and they’re still happy with us today. The platform was then called “Hub Edition” and telcos were the target. The focus was mobile and cloud (ASPs back then), only a bit too early for our own good.
15 Years Ago: Hub Edition 2.0
By then, we had created the Service Center (with Service Studio). We did a lot of work on the quality of the generated code, and implemented some improvements, such as windows integrated authentication, and assign node usability, as described in New in Hub Edition 2.0.
14 Years Ago: Hub Edition 2.1 and 2.2
Things were starting to happen. We were surprised to see our customers use the platform to create all their internal web applications (not just SMS applications’ back offices), so we started pivoting to that.
1-Click Publish
This was when we introduced the famous 1-click publish button. In previous versions, you needed several clicks to upload, compile, and publish in Service Center.
We redesigned the welcome screen and improved Service Center with reports and monitoring. We also launched new web widgets, reminders, JavaScript, scalability warnings in queries, and ListRecord widgets. But we released more in the Hub Edition 2.1 and the Hub Edition 2.2.
13 Years Ago: Hub Edition 3.1
In 2005, we realized that integration with existing systems (through web services or lower level integrations) was starting to prove to be one of the killer features of the platform.
Integration Studio
Find and Replace Usages
The Hub Edition 3.1 was released with the possibility to integrate with external databases, 1-click publish of extensions, as well as improved developer navigation. See what else was new in the Hub Edition 3.1.
12 Years Ago: Hub Edition 3.2
By 2006, support for larger development teams became a natural requirement. And so we delivered.
Compare and Merge
Roles in Service Center
The new Service Center, refactoring, SAP integration, plus more in the Hub Edition 3.2.
OutSystems Platform 4.0
We started calling it OutSystems Platform: it was what users were calling it anyway.
Visual Debugger
Solutions in Service Center
OutSystems Platform 4.0 was made of functions, validations, and much more.
11 Years Ago: OutSystems Platform 4.1
This was a big leap forward in the developer experience, driven by usability tests. We also launched the first free edition for the world to try OutSystems.
OutSystems Express Edition
Improved First User Experience
Deployment Zones
Independent zones to separate intranet from your extranet applications.
OutSystems Platform 4.1 shipped with: Single Sign-On, Undo, Back and Forward Navigation, and Expression Editor autocomplete.
10 Years Ago: Agile Platform 4.2
Since we had been training our customers and partners on Agile methodologies, which were a perfect fit for the speed of the platform, we decided to give it a new name as well.
Built-in AJAX
Style Guide
Static Entities
Community Edition
The Agile Platform 4.2 included new things such as hot deployment and external databases.
9 Years Ago: Agile Platform 5.0
We completely re-engineered the insides of Service Studio, while bringing major new features to the platform.
Business Process Technology
TrueChange On The Fly
Emails
Automated rebinding, a new web editor and other features were launched in the Agile Platform 5.0.
8 Years Ago: Agile Platform 5.1
Our goal for the Agile Platform 5.1 was to dramatically speed up the creation of applications.
Scaffolding
Embedded Tutorials
Develop and Deploy on the Cloud
Other good things in this version were SEO URLs, caching, multiple catalogs, and automated documentation. There was even more in the Agile Platform version 5.1.
7 Years Ago: Agile Platform 6.0
We had a cool internal hackathon on a weekend to create enterprise apps. We learned from the process, and our new users learned from those apps. In fact, that was so cool, that we added that story to our book of rules.
Ready-to-Use Apps
Mobile Hybrid Apps
Service Studio Redesign
Agile Platform 6.0 was released with new themes, a widget tree, user management, and more.
6 Years Ago: OutSystems Platform 7.0
1-Click Publish was DevOps before DevOps was a thing. Here we took it to the next level and became the OutSystems Platform.
LifeTime
Collaboration and Security
Simplified Staging
Multi-tenant and extensibility APIs are examples of things we released in the Agile Platform 7.0.
5 Years Ago: OutSystems Platform 8.0
OutSystems developers are only successful if the apps they build delight their users. In this version, we worked hard so apps would have great UX by default.
Consistent Page Layouts
Responsive by Default
Rich Data Visualizations
Personal Environment
OutSystems Platform 8 also had Omni search, jQuery, and more.
4 Years Ago: OutSystems Platform 9.0
A larger community, a lot more data, different integrations, and a multitude of devices meant we had to advance on several fronts.
OutSystems Now
Visual Data Composition
REST API Consumption
Install From the Forge
OutSystems Platform 9 was the greatest release until then, and it also included simplified data binding and external database management.
3 Years Ago: OutSystems Platform 9.1
While already working on OutSystems 10, we launched this version to extend the capabilities of the platform further.
Silk UI
REST Traceability
Support Up to Quintillions of Records
Operational Analytics
OutSystems 9 Bali included performance improvements, enhanced extensibility capabilities and more!
2 Years Ago: OutSystems 10
This was a big one: we delivered a completely new runtime to enable mobile experiences and became market leaders in the mobile space.
Crazy Fast Mobile Apps
Native Apps With One Click
Apps that Work Offline
Performance, security, extensibility, and more in the new OutSystems 10.
This Year and Beyond
We’re now releasing new features much more frequently, so there’s a page just for that.
And in the next few days, we will be taking it to OutSystems 11.
And whether you are a new user, or you’ve been with us for some time now, you need to get ready: we’re just getting started and we’ll keep going faster and faster.