Microsoft halting .Net link to Oracle databases
Deferring to other makers, Microsoft will discontinue its own software providing access from Microsoft .Net applications to Oracle databases.
Specifically, the company is deprecating OracleClient, the ADO.Net provider for Oracle shipped as part of the .Net Framework. The decision was made after discussions with customers and partners, said Himanshu Vasishth, program manager for ADO.Net OracleClient at Microsoft, in a blog post this week.
[ For more recent Microsoft software news, see InfoWorld's article "Microsoft pares Expression Studio suite" ]
"We learned that a significantly large portion of customers use our partners' ADO.Net providers for Oracle, with regularly updated support for Oracle releases and new features. In addition, many of the third-party providers are able to consistently provide the same level of quality and support that customers have come to expect from Microsoft," Vasishth said.
"It is our assessment that even if we made significant investments in ADO.Net OracleClient to bring it at parity with our partner-based providers, customers would not have a compelling reason to switch to ADO.Net OracleClient," he added.
OracleClient, or, specifically, System.Data.OracleClient, will be available in the upcoming .Net Framework 4.0 release, but it will be marked as deprecated, said Vasishth. Existing applications will continue to work and new applications using OracleClient will be supported. But warnings will be raised if the applications are compiled against .Net 4.0, he said. The company thus recommends using partner ADO.Net providers.
Some comments attached to Vasishth's blog panned the plan.
"Eighty percent of our applications are using this provider and now you told me that I have to pay for a rubbish third-party provider," one concerned commenter said. But another person stressed, "Third party doesn't have to mean rubbish," and indeed could mean faster fixes and feature additions.
One vendor looking to fill the gap is DataDirect Technologies.
"If you’re seriously considering a migration from OracleClient, remember this might be an unexpected opportunity to retrofit your current or planned applications and upgrade your .Net to Oracle experience," said Jonathan Bruce, .Net program manager at DataDirect, in a blog entry. DataDirect's ADO.Net Entity Framework provider for Oracle now is in a public beta phase of development.
InfoWorld
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
On Twitter now
.net
Powered by Twitter
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.
Devart offers fast and
Devart offers fast and reliable ADO.NET provider for the wide range ofusers. One can choose the best Edition of our provider to fit his or her
needs. For example:
- You don't need advanced functionality and you don't have money to spend -
then free Express Edition is just for you. It offers functionality similar
to the one of Oracle Client, it is free and easy to install. All you have to
do is to place two assemblies in GAC.
- You want to develop and deploy database applications with ease? - Get our
Standard Edition with design time support, profiler for monitoring queries
that are being executed in the application, and the ability to work without
Client Software installed.
- You want more advanced features, you need all the functionality Oracle can
give? - Then Professional Edition with the newest Microsoft and Devart
technologies implementation will put them at your fingertips! In it, strong
points are Entity Framework support implemented since the release of the
first Beta, LINQ to Oracle, and, above all, Entity Developer - our own tool
for building LINQ and Entity Framework models, functionality and convenience
of which exceed those offered by the standard ones a lot. You are also
welcome to take advantage of using Oracle advanced functionality, ASP.NET
2.0 providers, SQL Server Business Intelligence Solutions, Enterprise
Library and much more with our ADO.NET provider for Oracle.
You are not sure if you can rely on the quality of third-party components?
With us you will get regular builds with fixes every two or three weeks and
fast comprehensive support from our team that will help you resolve any
issue.
Besides, the interface of our provider is compatible with
System.Data.OracleClient. We are sure that with the supplied Migration
Wizard tool and our support migration of your project will be fast, easy,
and convenient.
Try it
out!
Devart offers fast and
Devart offers fast and reliable ADO.NET provider for the wide range ofusers. One can choose the best Edition of our provider to fit his or her
needs. For example:
- You don't need advanced functionality and you don't have money to spend -
then free Express Edition is just for you. It offers functionality similar
to the one of Oracle Client, it is free and easy to install. All you have to
do is to place two assemblies in GAC.
- You want to develop and deploy database applications with ease? - Get our
Standard Edition with design time support, profiler for monitoring queries
that are being executed in the application, and the ability to work without
Client Software installed.
- You want more advanced features, you need all the functionality Oracle can
give? - Then Professional Edition with the newest Microsoft and Devart
technologies implementation will put them at your fingertips! In it, strong
points are Entity Framework support implemented since the release of the
first Beta, LINQ to Oracle, and, above all, Entity Developer - our own tool
for building LINQ and Entity Framework models, functionality and convenience
of which exceed those offered by the standard ones a lot. You are also
welcome to take advantage of using Oracle advanced functionality, ASP.NET
2.0 providers, SQL Server Business Intelligence Solutions, Enterprise
Library and much more with our ADO.NET provider for Oracle.
You are not sure if you can rely on the quality of third-party components?
With us you will get regular builds with fixes every two or three weeks and
fast comprehensive support from our team that will help you resolve any
issue.
Besides, the interface of our provider is compatible with
System.Data.OracleClient. We are sure that with the supplied Migration
Wizard tool and our support migration of your project will be fast, easy,
and convenient.
Try it
out!