As many would know in the Oracle circles, there has been a ‘new’ database version available this year. Don’t get me wrong, 18c is a new version but not a major release but a new approach to the software releases. 18c is equivalent to 12.2.0.2 and 19c will be the terminal release 12.2.0.3.
As with some other major vendors, making changes to the release identifiers can allow more flexibility in their development cycle that said I don’t know if anything has changed behind the scenes or if this is just a marketing ploy.
With 19c just around the corner, you should be planning your next move in database to remain current. Moving to the Oracle cloud database services is a great way to ensure that you do not need to worry about upgrade paths in the future and their autonomous database is a good path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HsVShulgx8
If you are currently running 11g or 12c and do not want a cloud option, wait for the terminal release, 19c but you should be planning this upgrade now so that you are ready.
If you have a need to upgrade sooner or are running older versions, 18c is your best option and it will be supported for two years after Oracle Database 19c platforms have released on premises.
Oracle Database 19c is the Long Term Support Release or “Terminal Patch Set” for Oracle Database 12.2.
For additional information, contact us or refer to Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1).