REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following on last year's entrance into the Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program, Oracle today announced it has released a beta version of Oracle(R) Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET, a plug-in component that enables developers to use Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 to develop and deploy Oracle Database 10g applications on the Microsoft Windows platform.

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This component provides tighter integration between Oracle Database and Visual Studio .NET, enabling increased productivity for Windows developers using Oracle Database 10g. The availability of the component highlights the commitment to meet the needs of mutual customers and the Oracle / Windows development community.

Increased Functionality for Windows Developers

As announced at Oracle OpenWorld in December 2004, Oracle Database 10g Release 2 will also incorporate new features that increase support for Windows application developers. Primarily, the upcoming release of Oracle Database 10g will include Oracle Database Extensions for .NET, offering improved Microsoft .NET support via stored procedures implemented using Common Language Runtime (CLR). The increased support will enable developers to write .NET stored procedures and deploy them within Oracle Database without having to write PL/SQL commands, helping reduce the time it takes for developers to build and deploy their .NET applications. Oracle Database 10g Release 2 for Windows is scheduled for availability mid-year 2005.

"We're undertaking significant steps forward to enable Windows developers to more easily harness the power of Oracle Database 10g," said Andrew J. Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Database Server Technologies, Oracle Corporation. "Oracle recognizes the need to provide the development community with choices for their development environment. Our enhanced development capabilities, in conjunction with the ease of development with Visual Studio .NET, will enable Windows developers to take advantage of the reliability, scalability and security of Oracle Database 10g. We also expect Windows developers to benefit directly from our support for Microsoft's Common Language Runtime."

Long-standing Oracle Commitment to Windows Platform

Since 1985, Oracle has helped tens of thousands of customers build mission-critical database systems on Microsoft platforms. In May 2004, Oracle joined the Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner program to offer tighter integration between the Oracle Database and Visual Studio .NET. Today, Oracle offers Oracle Database 10g for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Server 2003. Additionally, Windows customers can take advantage of Oracle Real Application Clusters which allow them to turn a cluster of low-cost servers running Windows into a highly available, scalable and secure platform for running all their database applications.

To learn more about Oracle products for Windows, visit the Windows Technology Center on the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/windows/ . To learn more about Oracle products for .NET, visit the .NET Developer Center on the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/dotnet/ .

Availability

Oracle offers a downloadable beta version of Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET today from the Oracle Technology Network at: http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/dotnet/tools/index.html . The production version of the tool is scheduled to be available in Q2 2005. Oracle Database 10g for Microsoft Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) is available for download at: http://otn.oracle.com/software/products/database/oracle10g/index.html .

About Oracle

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CONTACT: Eloy Ontiveros of Oracle Corporation, +1-650-607-6458, or
eloy.ontiveros@oracle.com; or Nicole Maloney of Zeno Group, +1-415-369-8120,
or nicole.maloney@zenogroup.com, for Oracle

Web site: http://www.oracle.com/