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SQL, Visual Studio, BizTalk Launch Set for Nov. 7 in San Francisco

Microsoft solidified its plans to launch SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 in November.

At TechEd last month, Microsoft officials said the three products would launch the week of Nov. 7. During his TechEd 2005 Europe keynote this week, corporate vice president Andy Lees said the product launch will occur on Nov. 7 in San Francisco.

The San Francisco event will be followed by more than 90 launch events in 50 countries throughout the month of November, said Lees, who runs Server and Tools marketing and solutions. The frenzy of launch activity underscores the importance to Microsoft of the first release of its flagship database in five years.

Also at TechEd Europe, Lees announced:

  • The SQL Server 2005 Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) Driver is available for download. (Click here to download the driver). The driver enables Java and J2EE applications to interoperate with SQL Server.
  • A beta of the Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System that includes Outlook support, available here.
  • A new SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Report Pack of Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and a SQL Server Reporting Services Report Pack for Axapta 3.0. The SharePoint report pack contains eight predefined reports, while the Axapta pack has six canned reports. Both can be downloaded here.

    • About the Author

    Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.