Oracle Corp will pass Computer Associates to occupy the number one position in the league of software companies within three years. So says Geoff Squire, head of Oracle UK, at a Berlin conference to announce the availability of Oracle’s Server for OS/2. He claims that Computer Associates will tumble when acquistions dry-up, and Microsoft will stay in a steady second place. Oracle has doubled turnover almost every year of its 13-year existence, and is all set to report a $1,000m turnover in May. Future prosperity aside, Oracle’s jaunt to Berlin was to publicise the availability of its new Server. (It was actually previewed at the OS/2 Show in October last year (CI No 1,292), and available in the US from November). Oracle is quite clear that it intends to back every horse in the personal computer local area network race. Consequently, OS/2 is only the first of a series of servers. Unix, Vines, and NetWare will soon follow. In fact, Oracle’s attitude to IBM and OS/2 is decidedly odd. NetBIOS, according to Oracle’s John Spiers, is yesterday’s technology today at tomorrows price’s. However, Spiers shone on IBM, AIX, and OS/2. IBM, he says, is moving from OS/2 to Unix-based systems. He believes that AIX for PS/2 machines is merely the entry system to Rios. IBM can’t control OS/2 as it would like, but it does expect to garner 20% of the Unix market with its Rios offering. Enough of IBM. The Server for OS/2 costs UKP2,000 and consists of Oracle version 6 with a transaction processing option. Also included are SQL*/dba, SQL*Loader the Oracle Server Manager, and SQL*Net for personal computer local area networks. The last connects to Novell NetWare, LAN Manager, and NetBIOS. The minimum hardware requirements are a Compaq Deskpro 286 or 386, and PS/2 Models 50, 60,70 or 80. OS/2 version 1.1 or higher is needed, with at least 8Mb of memory, a 30Mb hard disk, and additional local area network hardware and software. Communication options include TCP/IP, DECnet, APPC LU6.2, and asynchronous links. Oracle accompanied its server announcement with a summary of client software for MS-DOS and OS/2 micros. SQL*Forms is an application development environment, and SQL*Reportwriter is a report generator. SQL*Menu develops menus and SQL*Plus is an ANSI standard query and administration tool. They form Oracle’s Applications Tools package and cost UKP800. Pro*C is a language pre-compiler and call interface costing UKP400. Pro*Cobol and Pro*Fortran are interfaces that enable data to be accessed and manipulated in the database. They also cost UKP400. SQL*QMX is a query and reporting tool, and SQL*Calc is a portable 1-2-3 like spreadsheet. They both cost UKP300. Oracle dBXL and Quicksilver are dBase III Plus compatible. They enable dBase III applications to run either interpretively or to be compiled. Oracle dBXL is UKP400 and Quicksilver is UKP600. Oracle’s family of Computer Aided Software Engineering products are also avaiable for OS/2. They comprise CASE*Dictionary, UKP2,000, CASE*Designer, UKP4,000, and CASE*Generation for SQL*Forms at UKP1,000.
