PostgreSQL 9.1 Beta 1 now available

The PostgreSQL project has released the first beta of verison 9.1.  This beta release contains all of the features which will be in the final release, which is expected two to four months from now.  All users should help the project by downloading and testing PostgreSQL 9.1beta1 as soon as they can.

PostgreSQL 9.1 contains a huge volume of new features, possibly more any single release of PostgreSQL before.  These features also include several innovations which PostgreSQL is the first database system to have.  The most anticipated features in this version include:

* Synchronous Replication
* Per-column collations for multilingual databases
* Unlogged Tables
* K-Nearest-Neighbor Indexing
* Serializable Snapshot Isolation
* Writeable Common Table Expressions
* SE-Linux Integration
* Extensions
* SQL/MED attached tables

The PostgreSQL project now depends on you to test 9.1beta1 in order have a rapid and bug-free 9.1 release.  If you are able to help with testing version 9.1, please see the Beta Testing HOWTO:
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/HowToBetaTest

Since this is a beta version, it is not considered ready for production use.  However, the list of features and the APIs is now stable, so application developers can begin developing applications
against 9.1.  This beta may be followed by more beta releases and one or more release candidates before final release.  The PostgreSQL developers expect the final version to be released in two to four months, depending on testing and bug-fixing.

Links
PostgreSQL home page: http://www.postgresql.org
Downloads page: http://www.postgresql.org/download/
Beta testing information:
http://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta
Beta release notes:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/release-9-1.html
Beta documentation:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/index.html