Past SQL Server Versions

SQL Server 2005 will leave Mainstream support through Apr. 2011, following an SP4 update planned for late 2010. Shown here are life cycle support dates as well as initial release dates and service pack histories for recent versions of SQL Server.

After the end of Mainstream support, hotfixes or other support for SQL Server 2005 will require a paid support contract. After the end of Mainstream support and the release of SQL Server “Denali”, it will probably become progressively more difficult to maintain SQL Server 2005: New Microsoft application versions will probably not be compatible with it, and newly discovered security vulnerabilities might go unpatched, as has happened with older versions of Windows and Exchange. Consequently, organizations running SQL Server 2005 should ideally have migration plans in place by the end of 2011.