ORACLE ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF ORACLE POWER OBJECTS VERSION 2.0

Oracle Power Objects Receives "Designed for Windows NT and Windows 95" Accreditation

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Oct. 29, 1996--Oracle Corp. today announced the general availability of Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0, Oracle's visual development tool for BASIC developers. Building on the strengths of Version 1.0 released a year ago, Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 now offers BASIC developers a single tool with which to develop mobile, client/server and intranet applications.

The new features span greater development productivity, intranet development, integration of the Personal Oracle Lite local database, application performance, cross-platform portability, wider database support and integration. Bringing Oracle Power Objects fully into the family of Oracle tools, Oracle announced that Oracle Designer/2000, the company's analysis, modeling and design tool, will soon support code generation for Power Objects applications in an upcoming release.

Also announced today is acation for the "Designed for Windows NT and Windows 95" specification, further demonstrating Oracle's commitment to offering the best products and most advanced technologies on Windows platforms and ensuring tight Windows integration for Power Objects users. Continuing in the Oracle tradition of portability, Oracle Power Objects V2.0 is available today on Windows 3.1, Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0, Windows 95, Macintosh 68k and PowerPC Macintosh, and supports full application portability across all five platforms.

"With this new release Oracle Power Objects becomes Oracle's strategic tool for BASIC developers," said Sohaib Abbasi, senior vice president, Oracle Tools and Groupware Division. "The enhancements to Version 2.0 provide developers with an easy-to-use, database-savvy toolset for building powerful database applications for client/server networks, mobile laptops and intranets."

Analysts looking for Oracle to demonstrate commitment to BASIC developers responded positively to the new release. "Power Objects' enhanced database access, 32- and 16-bit platform support, mobile application features, the new external OLE Automation-based API, and ActiveX controls package are valuable improvements. Version 2.0 shows Oracle's clear commitment to expanding PowerObjects' market reach," said Evan Quinn, research manager, International Data Corporation.

Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 New Features Client/Server Productivity * Support is provided for Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) allowing access to any ODBC datasource from Oracle Power Objects applications, and full integration into the Designer allowing drag and drop of data between different data sources. In addition Oracle has licensed INTERSOLV DataDirect ODBC drivers for all five platforms. These drivers support Microsoft SQL Server 6.x, Sybase System 10, ASCII files, Excel, FoxPro, dBase and Paradox. Support for Oracle7 continues through native drivers (Oracle 7.1, 7.2 and Oracle(R) Universal Server(R)). * An enhanced user interface was designed to simplify management of large-scale applications, including an Object Browser for viewing and manipulating client and server objects, an Integrated Code Editor, 18 new data-aware controls for ActiveX and a new Data Bound Grid Control. * Crystal Reports Version 5.0 Professional Edition, the latest version of the popular workgroup reporting tool, provides new reporting capabilities. This includes the first release of Crystal Reports for the Macintosh, currently only available with Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0. Many BASIC developers already use Crystal for their workgroup reporting needs, so bundling Crystal enables easy migration of applications from other BASIC environments to Oracle Power Objects.

Intranet & Internet * The new Netscape compatible plug-in for Oracle Power Objects enables users to run fully-functional applications directly from Web browsers that support plug-in architecture, making Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 the first BASIC application development tool for intranet database applications. * Crystal Reports includes output to HTML format for intranet and Internet deployment of reports. * Oracle PowerBrowser ActiveX control provides a fully-functional Web browser control enabling the embedding of Internet content or services into any application. * Oracle Power Objects supports third-party ActiveX Internet controls (POP3, FTP, SMTP etc.)

Mobile * Personal Oracle Lite, Oracle's strategic lightweight local database is integrated into Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 for local data. This fits into less than one megabyte of memory , providing an ideal solution for mass deployment to desktop or mobile laptop PCs. * Full Replication support with Oracle Universal Server is integrated into Oracle Power Objects, and Version 2.0 has maintained an extremely light footprint emphasizing its suitability for mobile applications. This enables synchronization between mobile and server-based databases. The Oracle Power Objects Designer executable is less than 2.5 MB in size, while the end-user's run-time environment is just over 1.0 MB.

Relationships and Other Enhancements * Bundling agreements with INTERSOLV, Seagate Software and Crescent introduce DataDirect ODBC drivers, Crystal Reports Version 5.0 Professional Edition and Crescent ActiveX Controls to Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0. * The new external OLE Automation-based API allows Windows programmers to control Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 from other applications and opens up the market to third-party tools for Oracle Power Objects. * Native 32-bit support for Windows 95 and Windows NT, in addition to Windows 3.1, enables Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 to be easily developed and deployed across both 32-bit and 16-bit systems. * Delivering cross-platform portability, Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 offers support for application development and deployment on both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. It is the only BASIC rapid application development tool available for both Mac 68K and PowerPC Macintosh platforms. * Migration of Oracle Power Objects Version 1.0 applications is seamless, requiring no recoding. A graphical migration wizard is provided for data migration.

US Pricing and Availability
Professional Edition Client/Server Edition $295/Developer $1495/Developer
Upgrade for Version 1.0 $149/Developer $495/Developer

A multimedia demonstration of Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0's new features can be downloaded from the Oracle Power Objects Web site at http://www-dc.us.oracle.com/products/tools/power_objects/

Oracle Power Objects and Oracle Corporation Oracle Power Objects Version 2.0 is Oracle's visual development tool for BASIC developers to build mobile, client/server and intranet applications. It combines strong database integration with established industry standards such as BASIC and OLE, new techniques including visual object orientation, Netscape's Plug-in architecture for intranet-enabled applications and a unique drag-and-drop metaphor for ease of use. It is the most productive way for Windows and Macintosh developers to rapidly build robust Web and workgroup information systems.

Oracle Corp. is the world's second largest software company, and the largest supplier of software for information management. With annual revenues of more than $4.2 billion, the company offers its database, tools and application products, along with related consulting, education, and support services, in more than 90 countries around the world.

For more information about Oracle, please contact Oracle's headquarters at (415) 506-7000. Oracle's World Wide Web address is (URL) http://www-dc.us.oracle.com/.

Editor's Note: Oracle OpenWorld (OOW) is being held in San Francisco at Moscone Center on November 3-8. To attend OOW you must pre-register. To officially register for OOW please call (415) 506-4073. For further information and questions regarding OOW, please call Oracle's Media Relations hotline at (415) 506-4176.

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Trademarks:

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Oracle7, Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle Power Objects, Personal Oracle Lite and PowerBrowser are trademarks of Oracle Corporation. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.