Oracle has now made its low-end, free-of-charge Oracle
Database 10g Express Edition generally available to the
public.
Also known as the XE database, the beta version of the software
was originally launched as a beta product last October.
Oracle had envisaged going for a general release by the end of
last year, but delayed the general release to add further
unspecified security features.
The usage restrictions for using the database remain the same.
Data storage limits are 4Gbytes of data and 1Gbyte of Ram when
processing. Users can also use only one CPU per host server.
The XE database supports 32-bit Windows platforms and Linux
distributions from market leaders Red Hat and Novell.
XE supports development environments including Java, .Net and
PHP and is based on the same code as the company's enterprise-level
Oracle Database 10g Release 2.
Oracle is hoping that users who use the free edition of XE will
later want to upgrade to more powerful, paid-for versions of the
10g database.
Oracle expects that XE will also appeal to developers and the
academic community.