SQL Server 2005 Editions, pricing unveiled
ENT News | at | by Mike
Microsoft will raise prices for SQL Server 2005 compared to SQL Server 2000, but SQL Server will continue to come in a free edition, a new low cost edition is being added and functionality previously reserved for the Enterprise Edition is working its way down to lower cost versions.
SQL Server 2005 is supposed to ship this summer, with a Beta 3 test version coming out by the end of March and another in a series of Community Technical Previews expected in a few weeks. Normally Microsoft holds off on announcing the features and prices for each edition until a product is released to manufacturing. The early disclosure is not surprising given the importance of the release and the fact that Microsoft's initial public plans to ship the database, code-named "Yukon," originally called for a 2002 release.