Oracle will unwrap the latest version of its database software at the OracleWorld conference in September.

However, many organisations still grappling with 9i are likely to give the new upgrade a wide berth at first.

The 10i database has been in testing with customers since about November 2002. Key features are expected to include improved XML, web services and clustering capabilities, and scalability to support huge data warehousing requirements.

Oracle may also incorporate portal technology, called OmniPortlet, for aggregating information from disparate sources.

In addition, it will offer tighter integration with Collaboration Suite, the messaging and application-sharing software that Oracle is pitting against Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes.

Oracle declined to comment but promised an announcement at the San Francisco event that begins on 7 September.

Benchmarks of 10i suggest that the upgrade will offer significant speed gains, although the results have since been withdrawn because Oracle failed to release the commercial product within six months of submission, one of the rules of benchmarking body the TPC.

However, many firms will be more interested in working through Oracle's controversial licensing schemes or in getting the most out of their 9i deployments.

"Are the new features in 10i really so radical that it justifies a major release?" asked a post to a forum for database administrators. "Give the rest of us a chance to catch up to 9i."

Another database administrator responded to a question regarding when 10i would be released by saying: "The day we all finish upgrading our databases to 9i."

In a recent poll of readers at the SearchOracle.com website, 42 per cent cited 'fairer pricing/licensing model' as the improvement they would most like to see with 10i.

This was followed by 'less clunky' Enterprise Manager at 25 per cent, more automated administration at 17 per cent, and better Linux support at 10 per cent.

Management tools are expected to be a major focus of 10i, with features to simplify administration and reporting tasks.

The three per cent of voters who wanted Oracle to drop the Rule-Based Optimizer (RBO) - a widely deployed tool for executing complex SQL statements - could soon get their wish if it is replaced by Oracle's Cost-Based Optimizer.

However, some observers said that, rather than disappearing altogether, the RBO will be "depreciated", i.e. kept on for a support fee, or in some way masked.

"My understanding is that it will be in some way lurking under the code," commented Ronan Miles, chairman of the UK Oracle User Group.

"Have they put a gun to your head [by charging a support fee]? Well, not exactly, but they're kind of waving it around. Oracle support is typically pretty good though."

The same approach may be taken with Windows SQL Plus. According to some reports, the graphical interface will be replaced by a browser-based console, currently called iSQL Plus.

"SQL Plus is one of those products that does exactly what it says on the tin," said Miles. "It would astonish me if it went entirely."