Back in 2003, Microsoft had a plan to attract Web site developers to the Microsoft platform with a project called WebMatrix. On July 7, 2010, Microsoft brought back that discontinued effort, via the introduction of a new tool suite known as WebMatrix.

Microsoft is making available for download a first beta of the new WebMatrix. The plan — if feedback is positive — is to release the final version before the end of this calendar year.

The WebMatrix suite include a lightweight version of Microsoft’s IIS Web Server, known as IIS Express; an updated version of SQL Server Compact Edition; and a new “view-engine option” for ASP.Net, known as “Razor,” which enables developers to embed Visual Basic or C# within HTML.

The goal of WebMatrix, according to its developers, is “to make it really easy to get started with web development.” The new tool “minimizes the number of concepts someone needs to learn in order to get simple things done, and includes and integrates all of the pieces necessary to quickly build Web sites”.

Microsoft is making the new WebMatrix available for download and installation using the company’s Web Platform Installer.