After more than a year of active development, the open source PostgreSQL 8.2 database is now available.

The release is an effort to close the gap on a performance and functionality basis between PostgreSQL and its competitive proprietary counterparts such as Oracle, IBM's DB2 and Microsoft's SQL Server.

There are over 200 feature improvements or additions in PostgreSQL 8.2, including Warm Standby Databases that will enable database administrators to have a failover copy of their database within a database cluster.

Generalized Inverted Indexes is another new feature that PostgreSQL Project Core Team Member Josh Berkus said will help to lay the foundation for the large database "semi-structured" database search tools of tomorrow.