The page limitation ties into another discussion Steve started a few months ago (in 2014 that is) about the slowing pace of change in SQL Server in general. Given that hardware for servers is now mostly 64 bit, memory is far greater than in 1999, when SQL Server moved from 2k to 8k pages (with the release of v7) it makes sense that the page size should be expanded.

But, this is now just one of many growing limitations of SQL Server compared to others. So, perhaps the better question is, will SQL Server be a viable option in five, or ten years? I started with SQL Server back in 1995, with version 4.21 and v6. Back then it was a great choice. Now, it is just a good choice. My sense is that Microsoft has now setup SQL Server as a cash cow, with the expectation that in ten years it will be gone.

For those of you with close ties to MS, perhaps you can wake them up!