Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Released To Manufacturing
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 was released to manufacturing on August 6, 2008. Microsoft released a press statement providing details about the new release. Although you can’t buy your copy yet on a disk, MSDN and TechNet subscribers can downoad an evaluation copy right now from the SQL Server web site.
Prices have been published and are not being increased since the last version of SQL Server (2005). The prices are listed below with the different versions available.
I have listed the notable features below and there are quite a few. There are major improvements as well as minor fixes listed. There is a nice article about what’s new in SQL Server 2008 on TechNet. The improvements and new features are within three main categories, trusted, productive, and intelligent.
Notable New Features
- New Date and Time data types
- DATE
- TIME
- DATETIMEOFFSET
- DATETIME2
- Grouping sets
- An extension to the GROUP BY clause that lets you specify what to compute as an aggregate.
- MERGE SQL Statement
- Transaction SQL statement that can be used to synchronize two tables based on their differences.
- Integrated Full Text Search
- Full Text Searches allow you to compare values in a field based on words or phrases. This is similar to the LIKE comparisons, only comparing words or phrases instead of characters.
- Data Compression
- Allows for more efficient storage and less storage. It also improves performance on I/O functions, such as data warehousing.
- Transparent Data Encryption
- This feature will encrypt the database files automatically allowing for better security. This reduces the risk of data being discovered, even if the database files are obtained by an unauthorized user.
Technologies
- Analysis Services
- Data Mining
- High Availability—Always On
- Integration Services
- Manageability
- Performance and Scalability
- Programmability
- Reporting Services
- Security
- Spatial Data
Available Editions
- SQL Server 2008 Enterprise ($24,999)
- SQL Server 2008 Standard ($5,999)
- SQL Server 2008 Workgroup ($3,899)
- SQL Server 2008 Web ($15/proc/month)
- SQL Server 2008 Developer ($50)
- SQL Server 2008 Express (N/A)
- SQL Server Compact 3.5 (N/A)
For more detailed information, you can check out the white papers, or if you are looking to try it out, you can download an evaluation copy.