What's New for the Application Platform

As managing vice president, Rob Helm covers Microsoft collaboration and content management. His 25-plus years of experience analyzing Microsoft’s technology... more

Major developments in Microsoft’s database, application development, and Web products since the Dec. 2015 Enterprise Software Roadmap include the following:

SQL Server 2016 ended its technical preview period and appeared as a series of release candidates.
SQL Server 2005 Extended support ended on Apr. 12, 2015, and customers require a custom contract to continue receiving support for the version.
SQL Server 2012 received SP3, which must be applied by Dec. 1, 2016 to continue receiving support.
Core database functions of SQL Server 2016 will be available on Linux in mid-2017 according to a Microsoft announcement.
Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 became generally available in Mar. 2016.
Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2 became generally available in Mar. 2016.
Visual Studio Online has been renamed to Visual Studio Team Services.
Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft in Feb. 2016, and Xamarin cross-platform mobile application development tools are now included in most

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