Microsoft announced today that they have released Service Pack 2 for SQL server 2005. This is the long awaited update that makes it Vista compatible.
Key enhancements to SQL Server SP2 include the following:
— Data Mining Add-ins for the 2007 Microsoft Office system enable data
mining functionality from SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) to be
used directly within Excel(R) 2007 and Visio(R) 2007.
— SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) compatibility with Microsoft
Office SharePoint(R) Server 2007 provides integration with the Report
Center in SharePoint, enabling the seamless consumption and management
of SSRS reports within SharePoint.
— SQL Server Analysis Services improvements for Excel 2007 and Excel
Services relate to performance and functionality.
— Data compression (varDecimal) is an important feature for data
warehousing scenarios, requiring less disk storage of decimal data and
increasing overall performance.
— Manageability enhancements, based on customer feedback, provide
management capabilities for database administrators such as
improvements in database maintenance plans, enhanced management reports
and a new copy database wizard.
— Management reports added to SQL Server Express Edition enable customers
to get insights into the performance of their Express Edition and SQL
Server Compact Edition databases.
— Interoperability improvements including Oracle support in the Report
Builder feature enable customers to use its functionality on top of
Oracle data sources. Customers also have access to SQL Server Reporting
Services to build reports on top of Hyperion’s Essbase cubes.
It can be downloaded from:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/sp2.mspx