Snowball - The Blog

Just minutes ago, after a long wait, SQL Server 2008 was released on MSDN Subscriptions. Just like previous versions, several versions are available: Developer, Standard, Web, Enterprise and Workgroup.

Note the new logo (finally, SQL Server has one!)



You can find the press release here.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing of Microsoft SQL Server 2008, the new version of the company’s acclaimed data management and business intelligence platform. This version of SQL Server provides powerful new capabilities such as support for policy-based management, auditing, large-scale data warehousing, geospatial data, and advanced reporting and analysis services. SQL Server 2008 provides the trusted, productive and intelligent platform necessary for business-critical applications.

“Microsoft developed this release of SQL Server with the customer in mind,” said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the Data and Storage Platform Division at Microsoft. “SQL Server 2008 is the only major database that includes comprehensive, tightly integrated functionality for data management as well as advanced business intelligence out of the box. By offering a complete solution, we save customers time and money and allow them to focus on deriving the most value from their data assets.”

SQL Server 2008 Express and SQL Server 2008 Compact Edition are available for free at http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/default.aspx.

If you're using Visual Studio 2008, don't get too excited just yet: you need Visual Studio 2008 SP1 (along with .Net Framework 3.5 SP1) to get things rolling. This major update will become available on August 11th. For more info on what else is included in VS 2008 SP1, go to ScottGu's blog entry on the topic.