PostgreSQL 8.4 Released: Easier to Use than Ever

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group has released version 8.4,
continuing the rapid development of the world's most advanced open
source database. This release contains an abundance of enhancements to
make administering, querying, and programming of PostgreSQL databases
easier than ever before. Our development team has spent 16 months
adding over two hundred improvements to all aspects of database
functionality, helping every PostgreSQL user in small or large ways.

Many of the changes in PostgreSQL 8.4 are new or improved administration
and monitoring tools and commands. Each user has their own favorite
features which will make day-to-day work with PostgreSQL easier and more
productive for them. Among the most popular enhancements are:

* Parallel Database Restore
speeding up recovery from backup up to 8 times
* Per-Column Permissions
allowing more granular control of sensitive data
* Per-database Collation Support
making PostgreSQL more useful in multi-lingual environments
* In-place Upgrades through pg_migrator (beta)
enabling upgrades from 8.3 to 8.4 without extensive downtime
* New Query Monitoring Tools
giving administrators more insight into query activity
* Greatly Reduced VACUUM Overhead
through the Visibility Map
* New Monitoring Tools
for current queries, query load and deadlocks

Version 8.4 also makes data analysis easier through the advanced ANSI
SQL2003 features of windowing functions, common table expressions and
recursive queries. Enhancements to stored procedures, such as default
parameters and variadic parameters, make database server programming
simpler and more compact. Of course, there are also performance
improvements included in this version.

Download version 8.4 today and start enjoying using PostgreSQL even more!

* Download PostgreSQL 8.4
http://www.postgresql.org/download/

* Release Notes
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/static/release-8-4.html

* List of 8.4 Features
http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/features84.html

* Press Release
http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/presskit84.html