Re: Oracle 8i in the UK...ho hum :-(

Thanks Thomas for the finely worded reply. In addition, approximately 30% of the Oracle8i beta sites currently testing the product are in the UK and Europe. Rest assurred that the UK is more than up-to-speed on Oracle8i

Mark Townsend

Senior Product Manager
Server Technologies
400 Oracle Parkway
6th Floor, #608

Thomas Kyte wrote:

> A copy of this was sent to rkl_at_csc.liv.ac.uk (Richard Lloyd)
> (if that email address didn't require changing)
> On Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:45:47 GMT, you wrote:
>
> >OK, lots of points to make about Oracle 8i:
> >
> >* Oracle 8i has been out in the US for a few months now. How come it's
> > not available in the UK ? Looking at Oracle 8.0.5, there seems to be
> > no customisation for the UK market (we even have to choose
> > "American English" - there's no "British English" option !), so why the
> > delay in getting 8i in the UK ?
> >
>
> No it hasn't, Oracle8i (currently 8.1.3) is in beta. It hasn't been released
> anywhere as yet.
>
> Its been 'launched' (aka "announced")
>
> >* If I go to www.oracle.co.uk, the home page has an Oracle 8i logo on it
> > (plus a link to an 8i article just below it). And yet, the link goes to
> > the *US* site.
> >
>
> Its a marketing statement about the features of Oracle8i. Why does it matter if
> it comes from the US or the UK webserver? Thats one of the neat features of the
> web actually -- Many of the links on the UK webserver reuse content from the US
> web sites.
>
> >* When I phoned up Oracle UK about 8i, the woman incredibly said "oh, I don't
> > know when it's released in the UK, I'll have to ask a colleague". When she
> > did ask, she came back with an answer "it'll be released in January", which
> > I thought was far too long a delay.
> >
>
> But, if you read some of the releases on the US website that the UK website
> pointed you to, you would find:
>
> <quote>
> Pricing and Availability
>
> Oracle8i is currently in beta release and is scheduled for general availability
> later this year. A developers' release of Oracle iFS will ship with Oracle8i and
> will be enhanced for production release in 1999. Oracle8i also includes new,
> simplified migration wizards that provide an easy upgrade path for customers
> from Oracle7(tm) and Oracle8 to Oracle8i. To ensure a smooth transition from
> previous versions, Oracle7 and Oracle8 customers with Oraclemetals(sm) support
> are slated to receive a free upgrade as part of their support contract.
> </quote>
>
> Oracle8i isn't yet production and won't be until sometime in late December --
> given that CD's must be burned and all, it'll be January when you can get it...
>
> >* I went back to the www.oracle.co.uk home page and, if you scroll and scroll
> > down, there's a link to "The UK Oracle User Group", so I followed that
> > out of curiosity. It took me to www.oracleuser.co.uk and, guess what, there's
> > a big logo there about the "UK Launch of Oracle 8". I clicked on that to
> > get to: http://www.oracleuser.co.uk/conf98/8i/index.html and voila,
> > we have the official release data of Oracle 8i in the UK:
> >
> > 5.40pm, Tuesday 8th December 1998
> >
>
> *NO* that is not a RELEASE date -- thats a party. Its the "Oracle 8i Product
> Launch", its when marketing will show you the new features in demo's... As it
> says on that page:
>
> <quote>
> Oracle8i UK launch takes place at The UKOUG & Oracle Conference 1998 at 5.4Opm
> on Tuesday 8th December
>
> In addition to looking at the Internet features for Oracle8i, Oracle will show
> and explain the other key features including datawarehousing, high availability
> & scalability, operational simplicity and applications integration. Don't miss
> this important launch.
> </quote>
>
> Thats a launch. Thats a get together. Thats officially announcing the
> existence of a pending piece of software -- thats not production, you can order
> your copy right there.
>
> >So how come www.oracle.co.uk has no mention of this launch date and how
> >come the Oracle customer line gave me the wrong date too ? Is it just me,
> >or is Oracle UK basically hopeless ?
> >
> >BTW, anyone going to phone up Oracle UK at 5.45pm on Tuesday 8th Dec and
> >order it ? Any bets Oracle UK will claim it hasn't been launched yet ? :-)
> >
>
> It will be launched (announced) but not yet production. Unless you are part of
> the beta program, you won't get one on Dec 8th.
>
> >Richard K. Lloyd, E-mail: rkl_at_connect.org.uk
> >Connect, WWW: http://www.connect.org.uk/
> >Liverpool University,
> >Merseyside, England,
> >Great Britain.
>
>
> Thomas Kyte
> tkyte_at_us.oracle.com
> Oracle Government
> Herndon VA
>
> --
> http://govt.us.oracle.com/ -- downloadable utilities
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of Oracle Corporation
>
> Anti-Anti Spam Msg: if you want an answer emailed to you,
> you have to make it easy to get email to you. Any bounced
> email will be treated the same way i treat SPAM-- I delete it.
Received on Fri Oct 30 1998 - 15:51:59 CST