The PostgreSQL Global Development Group announces today that the first
beta release of PostgreSQL 9.6 is available for download. This release
contains previews of all of the features which will be available in
the final release of version 9.6, although some details will change
before then. Users are encouraged to begin testing their applications
against this latest release.
Major Features of 9.6
---------------------
Version 9.6 includes significant changes and exciting enhancements including:
* Parallel sequential scans, joins and aggregates
* Support for consistent, read-scaling clusters through multiple synchronous
standbys and "remote_apply" synchronous commit.
* Full text search for phrases
* postgres_fdw can now execute sorts, joins, UPDATEs and DELETEs on the
remote server
* Decreased autovacuum impact on big tables by avoiding "refreezing" old data.
In particular, parallel execution should bring a noticeable increase
in performance to supported queries.
Help Test for Bugs
------------------
As with other major releases, the improvements in PostgreSQL include
changes to large amounts of code. We count on you to test the altered
version with your workloads and testing tools in order to find bugs
and regressions before the release of PostgreSQL 9.6.0. In addition to
testing that the new features work as documented, consider testing the
following:
* Do parallel queries actually improve performance for you?
* Can you make parallel queries crash or lose data?
* Do our code changes cause PostgreSQL to not function on your platform?
* Does improved vacuum freezing safely reduce autovacuum of large tables?
* Does phrase search return the results you expect?
Version 9.6 Beta 1 also makes changes to the binary backup API.
Administrators should test version 9.6 with PostgreSQL backup tools,
including pgBackRest, Barman, WAL-E, and other packaged and in-house
software.
As this is a Beta, minor changes to database behaviors, feature
details, and APIs are still possible. Your feedback and testing will
help determine the final tweaks on the new features, so test soon. The
quality of user testing helps determine when we can make a final
release.
Beta Schedule
-------------
This is the first beta release of version 9.6. The PostgreSQL Project
will release additional betas as required for testing, followed by one
or more release candidates, until the final release in late 2016. For
further information please see the Beta Testing page.
Links
-----
* Downloads Page: http://www.postgresql.org/download/
* Beta Testing Information: http://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta
* 9.6 Beta Release Notes:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/static/release-9-6.html
* What's New in 9.6: https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/NewIn96
* 9.6 Open Items: https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_9.6_Open_Items
--
Dave Page
PostgreSQL Core Team
http://www.postgresql.org/