We are pleased to announce that SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB Release Candidate 0 is now available for download. Try it here today! LocalDB is a new version of Express created specifically for developers. It is very easy to install and requires no management...

In our continued commitment to interoperability, we are very excited to announce the availability of a preview release of the SQL Server ODBC Driver for Linux! This release will allow native developers to access Microsoft SQL Server from Linux operating...

A few weeks ago we released a new “lab” on a site which some of you may be aware of called SQL Azure | Labs . We created this site as an outlet for projects incubated out of teams who are passionate about an idea. The labs allow you to experiment...

Building on our announcement at the PASS Summit 2011 in early October, today we are excited to announce the SQL Server 2012 Release Candidate (RC). SQL Server 2012 RC is the first release which is feature complete and represents an exciting milestone...

CALLING ALL SQL SERVER PROFESSIONALS Do you want Microsoft to come to your city? This March, Microsoft is teaming with PASS to bring you the SQL Server 2012 Special Ops Tour, a cross-country, technical training roadshow that will take us to 12 cities...

We are pleased to announce two new training opportunities being launched by Microsoft Learning to help prepare candidates for the Certified Master exams or for anyone looking to take their SQL Server skills to the next level. Coming November 29: Accelerated...

In choosing a platform for running Mission Critical applications, IT Managers, Architects and CIOs need to ensure that the platform is trustworthy and can provide the reliability, availability, security, and performance needed to meet the service level...

Guest Blogger: Aaron Bertrand Aaron is a senior consultant for SQL Sentry , providers of the free Plan Explorer, as well as performance monitoring and event management software for SQL Server. He has been blogging at sqlblog.com since 2006, focusing on...