Altova yesterday shipped a 64-bit edition of its MissionKit Tool Suite that it says is significantly more effective for working with large XML files.

MissionKit Version 2010 Release 2 consists of 64-bit versions of Altova’s DatabaseSpy query and design tool, DiffDog merge utility, MapForce data mapping tool, StyleVision graphical stylesheet design utility, UModel Unified Modeling Language tool, and XMLSpy XML editor.

The ability to edit large XML files in Windows is greatly increased by the availability of system memory in 64-bit XML applications, according to CEO and president Alexander Falk.

“The practical limit of how large an XML file you could edit in a 32-bit application was about 200–300MB,” Falk explained. “How large a file you can edit is now only dictated by how much memory you put into your computer.”

Falk believes that there will be a large-scale transition to 64-bit Windows applications this year due to the broad availability of hardware drivers that shipped with Windows 7.

Version 2010 Release 2 is a free update for customers that have active support agreements. Pricing for MissionKit starts at US$739.

Other changes in this release of MissionKit are across-the-board performance and usability increases, in addition to better support for third-party software and modeling standards.