Oracle Joins Microsoft Visual Studio Partner ProgramOracle Joins Microsoft Visual Studio Partner Program

Oracle and Microsoft remain bitter rivals in the database software market. But that didn't stop Oracle from joining Microsoft's Visual Studio industry partner program.

Through the partnership, disclosed Thursday, Oracle's database will be more closely integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio .Net 2003 development tools. That will make it easier for developers to build applications for Oracle databases running on Microsoft Windows. "It will make developers targeting the Oracle database much more productive," says Nick Abbott, group manager in Microsoft's developer division, who oversees the partner program.

With the tighter integration, for example, developers using Visual Studio can see Oracle database tables and other resources through Widows Server Explorer and easily add those resources to an application.

Oracle will offer developers a beta release of free plug-in for Visual Studio by year's end through its Oracle Technology Network. A production version of the plug-in will be ready early next year.

This marks the first formal collaboration in application development between Oracle and Microsoft, Abbott says. Oracle's database running on Windows competes with Microsoft's SQL Server database. Oracle is joining the program at the "premier" level--the program's highest.