Execution Plan Changes when the OPTIMIZER_FEATURES_ENABLED Parameter is Changed, But Why?

May 30, 2012 A question appeared on the OTN Database forums yesterday that has yet to receive an answer.  The question was essentially, why did the execution plan change when the OPTIMIZER_FEATURES_ENABLED parameter was adjusted from 11.2.0.2 to 11.1.0.7, and why did the execution performance improve as a result of making the change?  A DBMS_XPLAN [...]