Oracle XE 11gR2 (Beta) Arrives..

After a very long wait by Oracle XE enthusiasts Oracle has released a Beta version of Oracle Database XE 11gR2 - an upgrade from Oracle XE 10.2. Both Windows 32bit and Linux 64bit versions are available for free download at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/express-edition/11gxe-beta-download-302519.html.

One of the anticpated improvements includes increased database size capacity from 4GB to 11Gb (1GB more than Microsoft SQL Server Express 2008R2). CPU utilization remains at 1 CPU. Memory utilization limits also remain at 1GB.

Full online documentation is provided including instructions on exporting Oracle XE 10.2 data to Oracle 11gR2 .

Oracle APEX (Application Express) v4.0 is included in Oracle XE 11gR2 with the supporting online documentation available at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E17781_01/doc.112/e18644/toc.htm . Finally, with APEX v4.0 Oracle XE 11gR2 Developers have workspace areas for complete Development containers. An APEX v4 workspace is a virtual private database that enables multiple developers to work within the same Oracle Application Express Instance while a particular unique application environment is protected.

The Oracle PL/SQL gateway installs by default within Oracle Database XE. It provides the Oracle database with Web Services and the infrastructure to create Web based dynamic applications with APEX v4.

With SQL Developer v3 Oracle XE 11gR2 database connections can be automatically created for each unlocked user account. A SQL Developer online tutorial is available which covers working with Oracle XE database objects.