Page Five

Evaluation Shortlist Microsofts SQL Server 2000 An affordable option that lacks the sophisticated management tools found in competitors but is well-supported by third-party developers (www.microsoft.com)

Oracles Oracle Database 10g Excellent scalability and administration features with good third-party app support, but expensive (www.oracle.com)

MySQL ABs MySQL Well-suited to Web apps and provides a low-cost open-source alternative to commercial offerings (dev.mysql.com)

Technical Analyst Michael Caton can be reached at michael_caton@ziffdavis.com.

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