Microsoft
has released a service pack 2 update for its SQL Server 2005
database.
The update delivers a number of enhancements that allow the
database to more closely work with the recently released Office
2007 productivity suite.
In a second major change, Microsoft changed the licensing terms for
the software, allowing users to run an unlimited number of virtual
instances on servers that are fully licensed for the Enterprise
Edition of the database.
The update among things allows for improved data mining from the
Excel spreadsheet or Visio diagramming application and boosts
performance for Excel 2007 and Excel Services.
The service pack also increases data compression rates for decimal
data while improving overall performance.
The database offers administrators a better insight into the
software's performance through a set of new performance reports for
the free SQL Server Express Edition and SQL Server Compact Edition
that is designed for use on mobile devices.