Oracle 8i on a PC, which Op system, which book for installation and us 3

[ahc142a]

I have very little knowledge reagarding Oracle. But i know i want to use it to create a database and then have it accessible from the net.(Maybe interactivle). However, I have downloaded the zipped version of Oracle 8i but am weary of opening it because i simply am scared of what might happen should i not know how to install it, because like i said i have virtually no experience at all. I only know a little bit of SQL. So what i need to know is:
1) will it work on Operating system (win98)
2) Is there a book that would show me how to install Oracle 8i, if indeed that is what i need for what i want to do ?
3) If so what is the name of this book and does it come with a CD of Oracle 8i on there ?
4) Will it show me how to use the darn thing ?

so please tell me all if u can. thankyou

 

[lweng]

It may not work on 98 but NT, 2k-prof and 2k-server are fine. You don't need any instruction for installation on NT, 2k-pro and 2k-server platforms, it's prety straight forward. Just unzip it and clik OUI, Oracle Universal Installer will take care all. If on unix platform that's different story.

http://technet.oracle.com

should have the documentaion for installation. Good luck.

 

[raygg]

Any large bookstore such as Borders has a lot of Oracle How to do it books. Or go to the O'Reilly Books website or Oracle Press. They are all good. You can download all the Oracle manuals you need from

http://technet.oracle.com

The learning curve is steep. If you just want a desktop database to throw a few things into - use Access or Excel. Oracle is industrial strength and does not have an easy to use builtin gui reporting capability. Use Personal Oracle 8i for win98 - use Oracle Standard or Enterprise for NT/W2K.

 

[carp]

For installation, Oracle also comes with online installation notes; I recommend you read and thoroughly understand them.
As noted previously, the installation process is pretty painless on NT, and you can get all the manuals you need from OTN. I strongly suggest you download the Oracle Concepts Manual for (IMO) the best starting point document for understanding how Oracle works.