PostgreSQL 9.4 beta2 released. All active branches have been updated.

For those using PostgreSQL, there are two news items. First, the one about fixing problems. All active PostgreSQL branches have been updated: 9.3.5, 9.2.9, 9.1.14, 9.0.18 and 8.4.22.

In branch 8.4. * This is the final update, this branch will not be supported anymore (if you are using, schedule an upgrade!)

The most important in the released updates:

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• PostgreSQL 9.3 and pg_upgrade : those who upgraded to version 9.3 with the pg_upgrade utility often noted an unpleasant problem: VACUUM processes crashed, and this in some cases led to the collapse of the entire system. Release Notes has a special SQL query that allows you to check your system for a potential problem. If there is a problem, then there, in the Release Notes , it is written how to fix it.
  
  
• PostgreSQL 9.3 crash recovery: fixed 3 issues leading to situations where data recovery in PostgreSQL 9.3 could be broken during crash recovery.
  
  
• GIN and GiST indexes: also fixed 3 problems affecting the GIN and GiST indexes used in the PostGIS system and in full-text search, and leading to possible data corruption or incorrect answers to the query. All indexes on columns with the bit and bit varying data types should be rebuilt according to the instructions in the Release Notes .

The second news is more positive: version 9.4, scheduled for release in the autumn, has been updated to version beta2. It will be a lot of interesting things. One of the most exciting new products is the implementation of the jsonb data type . This is JSON, stored in binary form, with excellent performance and rich support for various kinds of indexes. These features have been developed by Russian developers.

Other notable changes include 9.4: the possibility of “warming up” memory buffers (pg_prewarm) after the system has started, optimizing GIN indexes, improving support for updatable and materialized views and queries with aggregation.

A complete list of new 9.4 in English can be found in the PostgreSQL Wiki .

On behalf of the PostgreSQL Worldwide Developers Group, please participate in 9.4 testing!

Download page: http://www.postgresql.org/download/