After much waiting and grumbling from the SQL Server community, the much anticipated service pack 3 for SQL Server 2005 shipped on 12/15/08.  Finally we have a single avenue to apply all of our rollup packages that is fully regression tested. 

 I've been running the beta patch for quite some time on my personal stuff and the patch is really solid.  I've had no unusual activity / hiccups in using it and things just keep running along without issues.  You can read my original post regarding SP3 here.

You can find the download for the service pack at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ae7387c3-348c-4faa-8ae5-949fdfbe59c4&displaylang=en

Over the holidays is a great time to patch as most of the users we deal with are off on long holidays.  Get to testing ASAP and apply today!