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Oracle Corp. announced Tuesday that it is shipping Oracle Database 10g Release 2 on the Windows platform.
The move gives the companys Windows-based customers the ability to tap into enhancements made to the version, specifically in the areas of grid computing, performance, scalability and security.
The database and business applications software developer also reiterated a commitment to Windows customers through the release.
“This announcement is one in a long line of those weve already made that show our commitment to the Windows platform and its users,” said Willie Hardie, Oracle senior director of product management.
Oracle has served customers on Microsoft Corp. platforms since 1985, and in May 2004, the company joined the Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner program to offer better integration between Oracle Database and Visual Studio .Net 2003.
Hardie added that the release will allow developers to tap into core functionality thats designed to increase scalability and management at an affordable cost.
Oracle Database 10g Release 2 incorporates new features geared toward Windows developers, such as extensions for .Net, which include stored procedures. The feature allows developers to use the .Net language they prefer, which Oracle believes will reduce the time needed to build and deploy its database applications.
Windows customers will also be able to tap into Release 2s regular features, including automatic storage management, transparent data encryption, real application clusters and support for the W3C XML query standard.
The features enable simplified database storage management and provisioning, as well as an increase in application availability by allowing applications to run across multiple servers. Customers can also encrypt database data on disk without having to rewrite applications designed to access the data.
In announcing the release, Oracle also noted that it will be sponsoring the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, due to be held in Los Angeles starting Tuesday.
With the introduction of 10g R2, Oracle could see significant pickup in the products adoption rate. Many customers were waiting for the release, said senior analyst Noel Yuhanna, especially because they didnt like some of the features in the previous iteration.
“Customers had complained that Release 1 was too complex and difficult to manage,” he said. “Oracle saw that momentum toward simplicity and went with it.” Forrester estimates that about 30 percent of Oracle users are employing 10g, but Yuhanna predicts that R2 will catch on so well that the adoption rate should grow to about 50 percent in the near future.
Oracle believes that 10g R2 will be popular because of its flexibility. “Small and medium businesses will choose it because its easy to install and use,” said Alex Keh, Oracle principal product manager for database development. “The higher-end guys will use its unique features.”
Editors Note: This story was updated to add company and analyst comments.