Details of Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Remain Under Wraps at OpenWorld

Expecting to hear a major announcement about the next release of Oracle Database 11g while you’re here at Oracle OpenWorld? Think again.

Mark Townsend, vice president of database product management at Oracle, confirmed Tuesday that the company would not be making any announcements about 11g Release 2 during the five-day conference.

Just what will be in Release Two has been the subject of much speculation, as Oracle has been tight-lipped about the project. Some have speculated Oracle would look to improve its grid computing capabilities.

But while Townsend did not divulge any specifics about the content of 11g Release 2, he did offer a sense of the timing for it during his statements at press Q&A Tuesday morning.

In perhaps a slight slip of the tongue, he indicated Release 2 is slated for release sometime next year. As he described adoption of the current version of 11g, he said the following: “We’ve seen good uptake in the install base over the last year … and then as we bring Release 2 out sometime next year, we’ll see additional [growth] for that,” he said.

 Later, when asked specifically about the timeline and Oracle's plans for Release 2 as far as features, Townsend would only say:

“We're not disclosing content of Release 2 at this stage. We are about to start a beta program on it …We’re not announcing Release 2 at Oracle [OpenWorld] this year. I know people expected that, [but] that’s not happening. In terms of timing [for general availability]—it’s not this year. I don’t know what I can say, but if we go to beta this year, you can sort of work out our timing.”

And that was that.

However, Oracle is planning to announce news tomorrow about an innovation for its database. So stay tuned.