Re: Oracle vs MS SQL Server

I think Microsoft is improving in support and quality

   Linkname: Microsoft - PressPass                                  
        URL: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/6-29sql.htm  

      Broadest Database Beta Program in History Ensures Reliability of
                         Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 
   

   Redmond, Wash. - June 29, 1998 - Microsoft today ushered in the    largest-ever beta test of database software, as more than 50,000 sites

   received Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 beta 3 for testing. The            
   unprecedented size of the SQL Server beta reflects Microsoft's        
   commitment to ensure the software's full, industrial-strength              
   reliability.                                                          
       

   "We're very pleased to mark this major milestone with the release of    Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, beta 3," said Jim Ewel, SQL group product    manager at Microsoft. "When SQL 7 ships, customers will have the    assurance that it has been put through more paces by more testers than    any database product in history."

bjohnsto_usa_net (bjohnsto_usa_net_at_dejanews.com) wrote:
: You can get Oracle to send you a demo CD for about $5 which may save you
: some download time.
:
: Oracle forces you to do more work up front thinking about how big your
: tables are going to get. SQL server lets you defer these kind of
: decisions. Oracle seems to be optimised to be more labor intensive. SQL
: server is optimised to let you be sloppy, at the cost of some loss of
: control, and efficiency. There are some mechanisms to help you reserve
: space for tables, but you have to go out of your way and they seem less
: natural.
:
: The bundled Microsoft front end tools stand out as so far above the
: competition that the comparison is literally a joke.
:
: Overall cycles are cheaper than programmers so Microsoft is on a good
: thing.
:
: Except that I have such poor experience with Microsoft support I would
: consider their product very seriously. Since they are quite happy to
: ignore bugs in their products which are impacting a customer for and number
: of years and releases I would avoid them for crucial systems. They have
: such an enormous customer base they can't keep them all happy.
:
: None of the major databases fully support ANSI SQL92 fully. Even if they
: did, the standard has enough missing features that people would
: legitimately want to use proprietory extensions anyway. All pretty sad
: really.
:
: Brendan Johnston
:
  Received on Tue Aug 25 1998 - 00:00:00 CDT