OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE RECEIVES RECOGNITION THROUGH LINUX.

MySQL AB, developer of the world's most popular open source database, has introduced a new version of the MySQL(TM) database that includes "subselects" and other enhancements designed to facilitate large-scale enterprise application development with MySQL.

The MySQL database is a high-performance relational database management system for Web site and business application development and deployment. With over 4 million installations, MySQL is one of the most widely-used databases in the world.

"The benefits of the open source approach have become recognized through the unprecedented popularity of Linux, and these same benefits -- stability, low-cost and fast technology evolution -- apply to all widely-used open source software," said Marten Mickos, MySQL CEO. "MySQL is proud to have as customers many of the world's leading companies that are expanding their use of MySQL in large enterprise applications. With this latest version as a big step, we will continue to integrate major enhancements to better enable commercial development, without compromising the speed and stability that MySQL is known for."

The first development release of MySQL Version 4.1 is now available for download at no cost from the MySQL Web site at www.mysql.com. Version 4.1 represents a major upgrade to the MySQL database software. In addition to the standard MySQL features such as full support for transactions, Version 4.1 integrates improvements that enhance MySQL's architectural foundation for building heavy-load commercial applications.

Subselects Add Advanced Querying Capabilities

MySQL Version 4.1 includes support for SQL subselects, also called subqueries or nested queries, a powerful feature that lets users search complex data with ease and efficiency. With subselects, users can achieve query consolidation by nesting one query inside another query, creating a resource otherwise unavailable for searching in a single statement. Subselects allow users to query within a result set, creatively limit the result set or correlate results with an otherwise unrelated query in a single call to the database.

MySQL Faster in Third-Party Software

Software vendors are increasingly integrating MySQL into various applications and electronic devices, where the end user has no knowledge of an underlying database. Today, some of the leading companies in the world have integrated the MySQL database into their commercial products, including Agilent Technologies, Xerox and Virage.

MySQL Version 4.1 includes a more highly optimized MySQL server library that has a smaller memory footprint and performs significantly faster when embedded in third-party software.

Better Secure Socket Layer Support

MySQL 4.1 supports secure traffic between the client and the server, greatly increasing security against malicious intrusion and unauthorized access. Previously, the traffic between the development tool and the "mysqld" server process was protected by virtue of processes residing on computers within the same firewall. Now, the "mysqld" server daemon process can itself use Secure Socket Layer (SSL), thus enabling secure traffic to MySQL databases from, for example, a Windows application residing outside the firewall.

Other features that are available now in MySQL Version 4.1 include the following:

-- Support for Unicode through the UCS2 and UTF8 international character sets, making it easier to store and manipulate internationalized data;

-- Support for a subset of GIS data types as proposed by the OpenGIS consortium, which can be used to do efficient searches in maps

-- Support for up to 64 gigabytes of memory in 32-bit Windows (AWE memory) using the InnoDB storage engine

-- Better performance through in-memory tables using B-TREE indices.

MySQL Version 4.1 is the newest "development" version, which means that it has no known bugs and is intended for use by the MySQL developer community, but MySQL AB may make small improvements to it over the next few months. All MySQL releases, including all development releases, are stable and free of bugs, having been checked with the MySQL benchmarks and an extensive test suite before they are released.

Noted Michael "Monty" Widenius, MySQL CTO and co-founder, "Any software we release, regardless of version or stage, is free of all known bugs. The development releases allow us to give the development community time to put the software through its paces while they benefit from the newest MySQL features. MySQL is so stable and reliable because of this extensive 'battle-testing' by millions of users."

MySQL AB today also outlined significant enterprise features that are slated to be in its next major version, 5.0. Available by the end of 2003, MySQL Version 5.0 will include features such as stored procedures and triggers.

About MySQL

MySQL AB develops, markets and supports the MySQL database server, the world's most popular open source database. With an estimated 4 million installations and over 27,000 downloads per day, MySQL is quickly becoming the core of many high-volume, business-critical applications. Major corporations such as Yahoo!, Lucent Technologies, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, Motorola, NASA, Silicon Graphics, HP and Xerox rely on the ultra-fast, highly-reliable MySQL database. MySQL is available under the free software/open source GNU General Public License (GPL) or a non-GPL commercial license.

For more information, visit http://www.mysql.com or call 510/724-2267.