Xilinx's EDK (Embedded Development Kit) is the development package for building MicroBlaze (and PowerPC) embedded processor systems in Xilinx FPGAs.
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With the memory management unit, MicroBlaze is capable of hosting operating systems requiring hardware-based paging and protection, such as the Linux kernel.
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Alternative compilers and development tools have been made available from Altium but an EDK installation and license is still required.
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In terms of its instruction-set architecture, MicroBlaze is very similar to the RISC-based DLX architecture described in a popular computer architecture book by Patterson and Hennessy.
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Powered by the GNU toolchain (GNU Compiler Collection, GNU Debugger), the SDK enables programmers to write, compile, and debug C/C++ applications for their embedded system.
Unlike Microblaze, Nios II is licensable for standard-cell ASICs through a third-party IP provider, Synopsys Designware.
Xilinx's IP cores include IP for simple functions (BCD encoders, counters, etc.), for domain specific cores (digital signal processing, FFT and FIR cores) to complex systems (multi-gigabit networking cores, the MicroBlaze soft microprocessor and the compact Picoblaze microcontroller).