At Microsoft, we believe that software should provide you with choices that let you find the solution best tailored to your business’ needs. To that end, we have redesigned the SQL Server 2005 product family to better meet the needs of each customer segment with four new editions: Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise. As a low-cost mainstream database, SQL Server 2005 will deliver unprecedented value and functionality compared with competitive solutions. The four new editions will offer a range of features, from high availability and robust scalability to advanced business intelligence tools, designed to empower the people across your organization through a more secure, reliable, and productive data management platform.

Additionally, with the reduced application downtime, robust scalability and performance, and tight security controls, SQL Server 2005 represents a dramatic step forward in supporting the most demanding enterprise systems in the world. Because SQL Server is part of Windows Server System, you will also receive the added benefits of reduced total cost of ownership and faster development time through the increased manageability and integration that result from the common engineering strategy implemented across Windows Server System products. The table below presents details about each of the different editions.

Notes: In the following table, the “Comments” column provides comments on the specified feature. Numbers next to check marks indicate footnotes that appear at the bottom of the page. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition and Evaluation Edition are not listed in the tables. These editions have the same feature set as the Enterprise Edition; the only difference between these editions is the licensing policies.

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