Gabriel Beghelini & Juan Farah on October 23rd 2025

Meet SWT Evolve, Equo’s new drop-in path to modernize Eclipse/SWT and Eclipse RCP applications, for desktop and the web, with zero rewrites. You’ll see how teams refresh UI, unlock a browser target, and ship visible upgrades in days, not years.

Brief Industry Context

For more than 20 years, SWT and Eclipse RCP have powered reliable, enterprise-grade applications across industries like engineering, finance, and automation.

But today’s software landscape has changed. Users expect fluid, responsive interfaces and applications that work seamlessly across multiple platforms and even in the browser. Meanwhile, maintaining legacy SWT applications grows harder as dependencies age and SWT expertise becomes rarer.

Traditionally, modernizing an SWT-based application meant rewriting it entirely. This process could take years, cost a lot, and risk breaking workflows that have been stable for a decade or more… until now.

What is SWT Evolve

SWT Evolve is an open-source drop-in replacement for the SWT library that keeps your Java code and SWT APIs intact while delivering a modern, high-fidelity UI across Windows, macOS, Linux, and an optional web deployment from the same codebase. No rewrites. No code migrations.

Technical deep dive (facts that matter):

100% SWT API surface maintained, >98% Eclipse SWT test-suite compatibility; native-class rendering performance Modern renderer: GPU acceleration, HiDPI, animations, theming; pixel-perfect results Multi-runtime architecture: Java hosts your original SWT API & logic; embedded rendering engine draws the UI; native or browser runtime modes Replaceable components: Selectively mix in Chromium/React.js when needed, without abandoning SWT Web-Ready: run as desktop or browser with the same Java, enabling SaaS paths without code changes

All your application logic remains exactly the same: no rewrites and no code migrations.

How it Works

SWT Evolve replaces SWT’s aging rendering system with a modern rendering engine. This means your application benefits from pixel-perfect rendering, smooth animations, and high-DPI support across platforms including the web (more on this later).

To upgrade, you simply:

• 1. Replace your existing SWT dependency with SWT Evolve’s JAR
• 2. Rebuild your application
• 3. Deploy it on desktop or browser

Your users see a completely modern experience. You see results in a matter of days, not years.

Web Ready: Your SWT Application in the Browser

One of SWT Evolve’s most powerful features is the ability to deploy your application to the web. From a single Java codebase, your application can run natively on multiple OS (Windows, macOS, Linux) and in modern browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox with no installation required.

This opens the door to SaaS delivery models, easier onboarding, and wider reach without major code changes.

Enterprise & Commercial Support

Beyond the core product, add enterprise and commercial support when you need it:

Corporate theming & branding: Full visual customization, including custom themes and branding, to align the application with your company’s style guidelines Custom Widget Development: Bespoke UI components tailored to your specific business needs Dedicated Enterprise Support: Gain peace of mind with priority support channels, and defined SLAs for your mission-critical applications Update cadence: Updates to the latest rendering engine in less than a week Cloud Migration Strategy: Bring your desktop applications to the cloud with an implementation strategy that requires minimal to no changes to your existing codebase (more on this later) Broad compatibility: Supports Eclipse/SWT 3.x and 4.x; options for older OS baselines. Compliance & Accessibility toolkits: Leverage integrated tools to ensure your application meets industry-standard compliance and accessibility (WCAG) requirements Advanced performance & security with an optimized high-performance library. Equo SDK: Access powerful middleware and developer tools to build secure, efficient, and scalable Java applications Equo Chromium: Integrate a high-performance, modern Chromium-based browser directly into your Java application Signed & Notarized Binaries: Deploy with confidence using production-ready, signed binaries for all major platforms, including full support for macOS notarization End-to-End Application Modernization: Let our team handle the comprehensive migration of your legacy SWT/Eclipse RCP applications

Migrate to Cloud

From “web-ready” to cloud: Run your SWT UI in the browser and deliver it as a centrally managed, secure, scalable service on AWS/Azure/GCP (or private cloud) with same Java/SWT codebase.

Why it matters:

Centralized ops, zero installs: one managed service; instant, fleet-wide updates SaaS at your pace: multi-user access, dev/stage/prod, usage-based scaling, regional deploys Faster releases: CI/CD pipelines with repeatable builds and rollbacks

Beyond “web-ready”, you get:

Cloud model: containerized JVM back end; SWT Evolve renders UI in the browser over a secure real-time bridge Identity & access: SSO/OIDC/SAML, RBAC, audit logs Operations:: autoscaling, monitoring/metrics/logging, centralized config, backups/DR, WAF & network policies Governance: data residency options, compliance & accessibility tooling, signed artifacts and controlled release channels

What changes vs. what stays:

Stays the same: Java business logic, SWT layouts/events, Maven/Gradle, tests, CI habits Evolves: target = browser, packaging = containers/K8s (optional), identity/ops become centralized and policy-driven

For any questions or assistance, feel free to reach out at support@equo.dev.

Thank you for choosing Equo! The Equo team