Microsoft SQL Server Release Services : SQL Server 2005

A changed approach to Service Packs

matthiab — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:26:00 GMT

In reference to the recent announcement of a Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2005 I wanted to take some time and elaborate a bit over a modified development approach we’ll be taking for SQL Server Servicing releases. With our recent SP3 announcement we...(read more)

SQL Server Express 2005 is now supported by XPe and WEPOS platforms

SavithaP — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:15:00 GMT

We have received numerous customer requests for supporting SQL Server 2005 on XPe and WEPOS. Listening to your requests, we are now happy to announce the support for SQL Server 2005 Express Edition starting with Service Pack 2 on Windows XP Embedded Service...(read more)

Cumulative update package 2 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is available

matthiab — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 07:25:00 GMT

Per previously announced revised Servicing Model we released the second scheduled cumulative update for SQL Server 2005 to the support organization earlier this week. Build number is 3175.

Information on this cumulative update (CU): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936305

Information on how to obtain this CU: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935195

Thanks, Matthias Berndt

SQL Server Hotfix Release Revised

Keith Fang — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 01:17:00 GMT

In response to customer feedback, SQL Server team has revised the mechanism to deliver hotfixes on reported bugs with a new model called Incremental Servicing Model (ISM). The objective is to deliver high quality fixes within an acceptable amount of time and on a predictable schedule.

We have moved away from current “priority driven” hotfix release model to a scheduled delivery model in which a customer can get a hotfix to service their most critical situations with a short turn-around time or a fix that has undergone higher levels of testing is released on a scheduled basis. As a result we created the two delivery mechanisms outlined below:

1) An On-Demand Hotfix request:

a. The issue must meet the criteria for this request (including a lack of a viable work-around, critical business impact, etc.)

b. May be requested by any customer regardless of their support offering as long as it met the above bar.

c. Is released on or before a mutually agreed date based on customer’s need

d. This hotfix build could contain one or more fixes.

2) Cumulative Update:

a. May be requested by any customer regardless of their support offering.

b. Is released every 2 months.

c. Is a Cumulative Update build containing:

1. All previous on-demand hotfixes to-date

2. Fixes for issues that meet hotfix acceptance criteria which considers the work-around availability, customer impact, reproducibility, complexity of code needing to be changed, etc.

While we are rolling out this revised model, there are several other projects are being done concurrently to focus on improving the quality of SQL Server at ship time to reduce the need for hotfixes of this nature

SQL 2005 SP2 - delivered!

GrantC — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 03:10:00 GMT

Months of effort by hundreds of people (including many of you, I'm sure) culminated this morning in the release of SQL 2005 SP2. This was a servicing release defined and driven largely by your feedback and bug reports. There are also some big ticket items such as proper Windows Vista support and integration with Office 2007 - be sure to check out the What's New doc and the press release for the full scoop. Keep that feedback flowing in so we can incorporate it into future releases such as Katmai, the next major release of SQL Server. Also we hope you'll join us for a TechNet webchat on March 6th at 9am PST with members of the SQL Server development team. In the meantime if you have questions about SP2 your best bet is visiting the MSDN forums. It feels really great to get this release out, and we hope you agree!