With transaction processing and Web commerce as the theme, Oracle Corp yesterday launched version 3.0 of its WebServer – a direct competitor to Netscape Communications Corp’s offering – with additions to its Web Request Broker technology that enables users to conduct persistent database transactions over the Web, giving the same reliability from using the Internet as if you were using Oracle directly, according to CEO Larry Ellison. The new version will enable Web Request Broker programs – what the company calls cartridges – to talk to each other. For instance, cartridges can combine to complete a task, such as an electronic transaction from a catalog. New versions of Oracle Developer/2000 and Designer/2000 were also announced. The former will enable applications for transactions to work on intranets and the latter to place and access database-driven reports on intranets, with no additional programming, according to the company. Next up was a few additions to the Oracle Applications for the Web family for managing corporate purchases, production schedules, engineering changes, workflow approvals, and the like. ConText Option, the text and linguistic analysis tool is now available and last up was a new Web plug-in for Oracle’s Video Option, which can deliver full-screen, full-motion video over intranets.