Oracle Corp. announced Tuesday that it is shipping Oracle Database 10g Release 2 on the Windows platform.

The move gives the company's Windows-based customers the ability to tap into enhancements made to the version, specifically in the areas of grid computing, performance, scalability and security.

"This announcement is one in a long line of those we've already made that show our commitment to the Windows platform and its users," said Willie Hardie, Oracle senior director of product management.

Oracle has served customers on Microsoft Corp. platforms since 1985, and in May 2004, the company joined the Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner program to offer better integration between Oracle Database and Visual Studio .Net 2003.

Hardie added that the release will allow developers to tap into core functionality that's designed to increase scalability and management at an affordable cost.

Oracle Database 10g Release 2 incorporates new features geared toward Windows developers, such as extensions for .Net, which include stored procedures. The feature allows developers to use the .Net language they prefer, which Oracle believes will reduce the time needed to build and deploy its database applications.

Windows customers will also be able to tap into Release 2's regular features, including automatic storage management, transparent data encryption, real application clusters and support for the W3C XML query standard.