The Oracle database has become one of the leading database solutions for the Windows platform. Oracle Database 11g for Windows provides an optimized database solution for deployments that require enterprise scalability, reliability, and high performance.

The Oracle database is certified for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems. 32-bit Oracle database is supported on 32-bit Windows with standard x86 hardware, including Windows Vista. This paper describes the architecture of the Oracle database on Windows and how it differs from its counterparts on UNIX and Linux.