Oracle was banging its drum hard today, as it launched version 11g of its eponymous Database product.

The vendor may have spent the last three years hoovering up other software vendors, but it managed to squeeze in another 36,000 person months to bring its core database platform up to date.

Oracle claims over 400 new features for its new platform. The grid word pops up a lot in the announcement. Perhaps reflecting the other obsessions of the age, Oracle is also emphasising features such as Data Guard, which it says will increase return on development for disaster recovery, by allowing customers to use their standby database to improve their production environment.

It also promises "Total Recall" of data changes, transparent encryption, and faster XML. It promises better handling of large objects, such as images, including medical imaging, or three dimensional objects, with its Oracle Fast Files. Perfect for pulling up biometric data for governments, for example.

More tangibly, perhaps, the vendor promises "Enhanced Application Development", with new features such as Client Side Caching, Binary XML, and a just-in-time Java Compile. As well as native integration with Visual Studio, it also offers Access migration tools.

Third parties were out in force to proclaim their support for the new platform, with EMC leading the fray. It's no surprise other vendors want to ride its coat-tails, when Oracle still claims 47.1 per cent of the database market. ®

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