MySQL 4.1.2 Now available for Microsoft Windows

Off the MySQL List: MySQL 4.1.2 Now available for Microsoft Windows.

Tons of bugfixes, Download here.

If you have never messed with MySQL, give this a shot, as it is a simple Windows installation. To resolve some misconceptions about MySQL, it now supports all those things MySQL isn't supposed to support, including stored procedures, triggers, transactions, and much more. The big black mark against MySQL vs. other DBMSs used to be that it sacrificed the "ACID" test for speed. The ACID test was:

Atomicity: The transaction must be treated as an indivisible unit, and all the statements within it must be successful for the transaction to be considered successful. In the event of a transaction failure, the system should be returned to its pre-transaction state.

Consistency: Once a transaction has been completed, the system must be in a consistent state, with all of its integrity constraints satisfied.

Isolation: The changes made by a transaction should be invisible to other transactions while it is in progress.

Durability: Once a transaction has been completed, the changes it has wrought must be remembered by the system even in the event of a system failure.

As of MySQL 4.0, ACID-compliant transactions were available.