Last month MySQL rolled out preview versions of the next release of its namesake database, as well as its upcoming MySQL Control Center, a Linux and Windows graphical administration tool.
MySQL 4.1, now in alpha (only source code is downloadable), gains subselect and subquery support. In so doing, it removes a major source of SQL incompatibility.
Version 4.1 also supports protocol encryption using SSL and gains Unicode data type support and makes a first attempt at handling special geospatial data types.
MySQL still has three major SQL limitations (lack of views, triggers and stored procedures) that the company hopes to address in a 5.0 release by years end. MySQL already supports transactions and foreign keys (its a common misconception that it doesnt).
There are third-party graphical MySQL administration tools, but MySQL Control Center is the first from MySQL itself and is already one of the best ones available. As with MySQL, it is free.
A few MySQL Control Center commands werent functioning in the current beta that I tried, but most features worked.
MySQL Control Center provides a query editor and results viewer; table and table data editor; and overall server administration features.