a couple of simple questions

Hello. First, let me thank in advance everyone who points me in the right direction. I'm new to databases (less than a month) and I've only used Microsoft Access (pretty straightforward as far as creating tables and forms). I decided that if I like databases, I might be interested in learning about Oracle. Before trying to download 300 megs over a 56k modem or spending $40 on a cd pack, I have to make sure I'm not being overambitious or premature in starting from scratch with Oracle, rather than learning database theory and SQL in beginner-friendly Access.

Here's a few questions. You'll notice I'm asking them mostly because there seems to be dozens of individual Oracle products to manage the database, rather than what I'm used to...one big Access control panel to control everything:

1. Which product, if any, from Oracle would allow a beginner to start a database from scratch, creating tables, forms, reports, queries, etc...to learn the basics of databases?
2. Is there a main management program (similar to Access) where you can basically perform all the functions needed to create and run the database?
3. If the answer to question one is yes, is there a free (or cheap) version that I could run on a single machine just for educational purposes?

Thanks for the advice! -Paul Received on Wed Apr 26 2000 - 00:00:00 CDT