MSDE Complicates Vista Migration

The MSDE desktop database technology will not be supported on Windows Vista or Longhorn Server, Microsoft has announced. MSDE (variously called the Microsoft Data Engine or the Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine) is a free version of the SQL Server relational database engine and is designed for use on desktops and low-capacity servers. The announcement means that many software vendors, including Microsoft, that have incorporated MSDE into their applications will need to update those applications to support Vista and Longhorn Server. Furthermore, organizations that want to deploy Vista or Longhorn Server will have to first find and upgrade any MSDE instances and MSDE-dependent applications, potentially a difficult task.

Two versions of MSDE, MSDE 1.0 and 2000, will not be supported on Windows Vista or Longhorn Server. MSDE has been superseded by SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, released in late 2005, and only Express Edition will be supported on Vista and Longhorn Server.