Microsoft and Oracle in .Net pact

NEWS Microsoft has today released a software product which bridges the gap between its .Net web services architecture and databases from arch rival, Oracle. Thus far the only database system optimised for .Net has been Microsoft's own SQL product. The 'Microsoft .Net framework data provider for Oracle' extracts data from inside an existing Oracle database and delivers it to ADO.net, the framework on which.Net-based web applications are built. It replaces the existing Oracle extraction tool, OLE DB. Oracle-based applications running on the Microsoft-optimised framework should run twice as fast, Microsoft claims. The product also replicates the programming structure of Microsoft's SQL servers, so an application designed for Microsoft SQL can be hooked up to a legacy Oracle database with a minimum of fuss. The product is designed to make it easier for companies with big investments in existing database technology to join in Microsoft's .Net web services programme. However, in November Oracle is due to release Oracle Data Provider .Net, which will address exactly the same problem. It seems that the two traditional enemies have not resolved their differences just yet.