It's been a while since my last post but as you'll see, I've been busy. In addition to thinking about the next major release of Reporting Services, I've been working on getting out the Reporting Services changes for SQL 2005 Service Pack 1. Today we reached a major milestone with the release of the CTP for SP1. You can download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ctp_sp1.mspx.

Here are some of the Reporting Services highlights in SP1:

New Features:

• Static Images in Report Builder - Now you can add images such as company logos or other graphics to your Report Builder reports.
• Data Extension and Query Designer for SAP NetWeaver BI - Through a new graphical query designer, you can easily access InfoCubes and queries in your Reporting Services reports.

Key Fixes:

• Analysis Services Integration Fixes - Several bugs have been fixed in the integration of Analysis Services in Report Designer. For example, the report wizard now works correctly with SSAS data sources and the automated parameter generation behavior is more robust.
• Model Designer Auto-generation Fixes - Large Databases no longer cause problems for the model auto-generation wizard in the Report Model Designer.
• Report Designer Fixes - Complex parameter declarations should no longer cause parsing problems in the SQL Server query designer.

In addition, we also released a CTP of SQL Server Express with Advanced Services. This is the SQL Express version that you have been waiting for (the one with Reporting Services included). There is also a tools download that includes the Report Designer and BI Dev Studio. You can download these from the link above.