The Force.com IDE, a powerful client application for developing, testing and deploying Force.com applications, is now Generally Available.  To get started, visit the Force.com IDE page on developer.force.com.

The Winter ’09 release of the Force.com IDE contains the following major new features:

• New Metadata Support in Winter ’09 includes new Analytics and Translation Workbench components, an expanded Custom Object definition, Apex class templates, and more.
• Metadata Component Directory displays a complete list of the metadata components in your organization available for downloading into your Force.com project.
• Simpler Project Structure removes package folders, so metadata components are easier to find and synchronize regardless of what packages they are in.
• Documentation and User Assistance adds 40 new IDE topics, context-sensitive help for all IDE dialogs, wizards, and actions, and the complete Force.com platform documentation and tutorials.
• Usability Enhancements add a friendly Start Page and improve wizards, screens, commands, editors, and error handling in the Force.com IDE.

Get an overview of all the IDE from An Introduction to the Force.com IDE, learn about what’s new in the Winter ’09 Release Notes, or jump right in with the installation instructions.

Note:  There is no direct upgrade path from previous Developer Preview releases to the Winter ’09 Force.com IDE GA.  Please see the release notes for more details.