Update is fully compatible with Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system; new licensing updates enhance opportunities for virtualization.

Microsoft Corp. recently released Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2, an update to its award-winning data management and analysis platform. Customers can now take advantage of enhancements in the familiar and easy-to-use Windows Vista operating system and 2007 Microsoft Office system to easily connect and integrate with the power, security and reliability of SQL Server 2005. In addition, Microsoft announced that it is expanding virtualization use rights to allow unlimited virtual instances on servers that are fully licensed for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition. For customers who want maximum flexibility in their use of virtualization technology, now or in the future, SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition is the ideal choice.

"SP2 delivers customer-driven improvements and new features that align with out data platform vision," said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the Data and Storage Platform Division at Microsoft. "SP2 realizes a step forward in enabling organizations to bring the business intelligence capabilities of SQL Server 2005 directly to end users in the tools they use every day."

Key enhancements to SQL Server SP2 include the following:

*  Data Mining Add-ins for the 2007 Microsoft Office system enable data mining functionality from SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) to be used directly within Excel 2007 and Visio 2007.
* SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) compatibility with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides integration with the Report Center in SharePoint, enabling the seamless consumption and management of SSRS reports within SharePoint.
*  SQL Server Analysis Services improvements for Excel 2007 and Excel Services relate to performance and functionality.
*  Data compression (varDecimal) is an important feature for data warehousing scenarios, requiring less disk storage of decimal data and increasing overall performance.
*  Manageability enhancements, based on customer feedback, provide management capabilities for database administrators such as improvements in database maintenance plans, enhanced management reports and a new copy database wizard.
*  Management reports added to SQL Server Express Edition enable customers to get insights into the performance of their Express Edition and SQL Server Compact Edition databases.Interoperability improvements including Oracle support in the Report Builder feature enable customers to use its functionality on top of Oracle data sources.  Customers also have access to SQL Server Reporting Services to build reports on top of Hyperion’s

Customers can download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 immediately from http://www.microsoft.com/sql/sp2.mspx.

In related news, Microsoft announced that the Common Criteria evaluation of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 has been submitted to the German Federal Office for Information Security for certification and that SP2 is undergoing EAL4 evaluation. The Common Criteria evaluations of SP1 and SP2 will be formally recognized by the governments of 24 countries that signed the Common Criteria Recognition Agreement, including Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, and informally recognized by as many as 30 additional countries. Applying for Common Criteria certification -- a procurement requirement of many governments and a preference for several industries and customers -- demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to building security technology into SQL Server 2005.