GuntherB's WebLog

Yes, finally SQL Server 2005 Express Beta 1 has been released ! SQL Express is the new name for Microsoft's MSDE database, the ( free ) light-weight database version of SQL Server. SQL Express uses the same high-performance database engine as the other...

So here we are, star date August 11th 2006 Still 4 months to go until TechEd Europe. But only 1 month to get your feedback on the TechEd: Developers SQL Server Track agenda ! Yes, we've been hearing your feedback and made changes to the SQL Server track...

Oh heck, I love living on the bleeding edge - although not on my production machines. :-) So here they are - in Tech Preview mode however - the preview versions of the .NET Framework 1.0 SP3 and .NET Framework 1.1 SP1 Though these are unsupported...

So yes! We released the first CTP of Microsoft Expression Web Designer on Monday. Over the past 2 days I've been receiving a couple of questions on this - weird cause I'm not a designer a all - guess devs & designers are really close after all...

Well, I've always liked the PayPal thing. Fast, easy online payment and quite secure (if you know what you're doing). The PayPal Web Services comprise of 4 informational and transactional API's enabling developers to create e-commerce applications that...

So here it is, v1.0 of the Mono framework , an open source implementation of the .NET framework for use on Linux, Unix, MacOS X and Windows system. Time to widen the gap again, Visual Studio 2005 Beta 1 (Whidbey) on your marks! Whidbey has been announced...

Woow folks. One of my favorite speakers is coming over to Belgium : the one & only Rafal Lukawiecki - guess our local marketing folks do seem to have budget left! :-) Seriously, on March 31st at Kinepolis Brussels , Rafal Lukawiecki will deliver a...

Last week Wednesday, we hosted the EMEA ASP.NET 2.0 on Tour event in Brussels, Belgium. This was our first official public appearance with ASP.NET 2.0 on the Belgian developer market. (Ok, we already did some usergroup & partner presentations about...

After the EMEA ASP.NET 2.0 on Tour event, lots of devs have been asking me about our plans for an AD/ADAM Membership Provider in ASP.NET 2.0 . Well, instead of just typing & telling the same information over & over again, why don't I just blog...

All registered attendees for TechEd 2005 Europe Amsterdam (from 5 till 8 July for those that haven't heard of it yet) will get a free copy of Virtual Server 2005 Enterprise Edition . For the exact terms and conditions, check out this special page on Virtual...

Folks, these are good times to be a SQL Developer! Over the next few days more than 3500 developers will be heading to Barcelona Spain for the TechEd: Developers event. I'm very excited about the strong SQL Server line-up we will have and in addition...

An interesting post from the MSBLOG.org sources explaining how Windows Live (MSN) Messenger actually works behind the scenes. 1. The user starts the session by double clicking a contact. 2. The user’s Windows Live ID credentials are sent across to...

Microsoft.com Download Page http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5C080096-F3A0-4CE4-8830-1489D0215877&displaylang=en Bits http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/1/1/511bc547-dda7-4803-9e32-5f8202c0ef52/Visual Studio 2005 Extensions...

Ok ok, I know... I should blog more often... hectic times. No excuses though - here's another attempt to blog more often. Stay tuned, I'm in blog mode right now ! :-)

Microsoft ProClarity Analytics Server 6.3 (English) and Microsoft ProClarity Desktop Professional 6.3 (English) have RTM'ed ! This is the first release by the ProClarity team since Microsoft acquired ProClarity in May, 2006. What is new in Version...

On Thu May 24, Paul Randal, Lead Program Manager in the SQL Server Storage Engine team will host a remote presentation at our MS premises in Diegem, Belgium. Abstract : How can you tell whether your data is corrupt? If you have corruption, how do you...

As you might have seen in the news, there have been ongoing SQL injection attacks against vulnerable web applications occurring over the last few months.  These attacks have received recurring attention in the press as they pop up in various geographies...

I've always had a passion for Data Mining... simply because I didn't understand what it's all about :-) and foremost, because it's such a huge - yet unknown - hidden gem in the SQL Server Business Intelligence stack!   One of the world's best presenters...

For many years, SQL Server was a product / platform with no logo. At TechEd US we finally revealed the new SQL Server logo : Check the Data Platform Insider's post here for more background info. Cheers! Guntherb.

  Just bumped into this article in Intelligent Enterprise - June 23, 2008 Impressive to see the impact of the new SQL Server 2008 features, like compression , partitioning and star schema optimization to improve your DW/BI system's query performance...

The Belgian SQL Server User Group is organizing another interesting evening full of technical content. From their website: " This UG-evening will start with an introduction of the basics of index design (the heap,clustered/non clustered indexes and covering...

Good news for all the J2 App Server fanatics! :-) We've just released a new Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver with SQL Server 2005. The SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.2 CTP August 2007 download is available to all SQL Server users at no additional...

On Thu Nov 22 the Belgian SQL Server User Group ( SQLUG.be ) will deliver a SQL Server Reporting Services by the one & only Marc Mertens. Abstract : Reporting Services is Microsoft's server based reporting solution that is delivered together with...

Woohoo! The guys from the SQL User Group keep going strong. I'm very pleased that our very own Dirk Gubbels will be delivering the next SQL Server User Group evening. C ya there! Guntherb. Speaker: Dirk Gubbels (Microsoft Consultancy Services, SQL Ranger...

I recently stumbled across this question from a customer : how can you detect if SQL Express is installed on a local/remote box? Apparantly, the Add/Remove Programs list lists some confusing entries including general "SQL Server" et all, so how do...