Version 5 of the open source MySQL database is expected
to be released next month.
The company distributed a release candidate for the new database
at the end of last month, and provided there are no major bugs
discovered, it is planning on a November launch for the update.
A number of new enterprise-ready features are included in the
new database, to make it a more serious contender against the
offerings from the likes of Oracle, Microsoft and IBM.
All three of these companies offer cut-down versions of their
high-end solutions more commonly found in big datacentres, and
MySQL is being pitched at this market to support specific
standalone applications.
Improvements in error checking mechanisms and the way procedures
are stored in the database are included in the new version.
The database is available free of charge under the open source
General Public License, and the price of the MySQL Network
subscription support service is unchanged for the new database.
Support costs from £350 per server per year.
