DRAFT beta release announcement

All,

Please submit revisions and corrections in the next 48 hours, thanks:

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DATE: The first beta release of PostgreSQL version 9.0 is now
available. Version 9.0 is the first version of PostgreSQL to inclue
built-in binary database replication, consisting of two features, "Hot
Standby" and "Streaming Replication". This new replication, as well as
several other radical new features, will drive adoption of PostgreSQL by
new users and in new types of applications.

This release is a beta version. This means that it is expected to have
bugs, issues, and missing documentation. 9.0 beta is being released so
that our users will find those issues and help eliminate them in time
for the final release. All PostgreSQL users are emphatically requested
to download and test version 9.0 to help us achieve a faster and more
trouble-free 9.0 release.

In addition to the new replication, a number of new features will allow
developers and DBAs to broaden their use of PostgreSQL, including:

* Support for 64-bit Windows
* Redesigned LISTEN/NOTIFY built-in event notifications
* The DO() statement, allowing users to execute ad-hoc procedural statements
* Conditional and Column Triggers
* Numerous PL/Perl improvements
* Uniqueness constraints for non-scalar data
* Improved key-value data support

The full list of over 200 changes is available in the release notes:

Users interested in taking advantage of these new features should
download and test porting their applications to PostgreSQL 9.0 beta now.
Because of the many new major features, as well as overhauled internal
code, in version 9.0, there are expected to be a number of
backwards-compatibility issues.

Source code, as well as binary installers for many platforms, is
available from the PostgreSQL Web Site:

* Source:
* Windows Installer:
* Binaries for other platforms:
* Release Notes:
* Participating in Testing:

--
-- Josh Berkus
PostgreSQL Experts Inc.
http://www.pgexperts.com