Oracle: Конкурент у MSDE

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html

Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) is an entry-level, small-footprint database based on the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 code base that's free to develop, deploy, and distribute; fast to download; and simple to administer.

Oracle Database XE is a great starter database for:

Developers working on PHP, Java, .NET, and Open Source applications
DBAs who need a free, starter database for training and deployment
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and hardware vendors who want a starter database to distribute free of charge
Educational institutions and students who need a free database for their curriculum
With Oracle Database XE, currently available as a Beta release for Windows and Linux, you can now develop and deploy applications with a powerful, proven, industry-leading infrastructure, and then upgrade when necessary without costly and complex migrations. A production release is scheduled for late 2005.
Oracle Database XE can be installed on any size host machine with any number of CPUs, but this free version of the world's leading database will store up to 4GB of user data, use up to 1GB of memory, and use one CPU on the host machine.