News

SQL Server 2008 CTP Released

Microsoft announced release of the first community technology preview of SQL Server 2008 at the Microsoft TechEd Conference in Orlando.

ORLANDO -- Microsoft on Monday released the first community technology preview of SQL Server 2008, the official name for what was initially codenamed "Katmai." The announcement was made here at the Microsoft TechEd Conference in Orlando.

Katmai is set to ship in 2008 and the company is making it a central plank of its push into the business intelligence space. But Redmond is also building a number of developer-specific capabilities into the next-gen server release: The ADO.NET Entity Framework (EF) and the Language Integrated Query (LINQ).

Developers can use the Entity Framework to program against data defined in a conceptual way, instead of having to work with information organized in tables and columns. "With the Entity Framework, we’re essentially programming at the conceptual level rather than at a logical level or a physical level," Francois Ajenstat, director of product management, SQL Server previously told RDN.

LINQ enables developers to tap various sources from within VB.NET and C#. The LINQ to Entities specification will ship as part of the Entity Framework, and, like the EF, will be supported by Visual Studio tools.

Other improvements slated for SQL Server 2008 include added support for various data types, including spatial and unstructured data.

In related SQL Server news, Microsoft on Monday also announced it had acquired technology from Dundas Data Visualization Inc., for the creation of charting in SQL Server Reporting Services.

About the Author

Chris Kanaracus is the news editor for Redmond Developer News.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.