Introduction

Launched in Nov. 2005 after five years in development, SQL Server 2005 includes a long list of new features and enhancements that strengthen the product as both a corporate database management system and a platform for building database applications.

Improvements to SQL Server as a database management system fall into three primary categories:

• Manageability enhancements that will increase the productivity of database administrators and boost its ease of use, which is one of SQL Server’s main advantages over competitors such as IBM and Oracle in the database market for small and midsize companies
• New server-side database programming features that could increase developer productivity, improve the stability of database applications, and compete with Java, which IBM and Oracle support for server-side programming.
• New features in SQL Server’s high-end edition will help customers improve the scalability, performance, and availability of mission-critical databases and the applications