If I were a DBA first and not an Analyst Programmer (or if I even wanted to focus entirely on DBA work - which I dont really) I'm pretty sure I'd be wanting to control the smallest, tiniest minutae of the engine.

As it is, I dont have the time to learn the half of what I can do already so every time I do delve into performance tuning etc I end up frustrated. I simply dont have the time I need to actually research/learn/acheive anything more in depth than setting up some decent indexes.

So for me, as a programmer first and a dba second, one of the most appealing features of SQL Server is that you can pretty much leave its own devices and it will do a pretty good job of running queries for you. If you want to tune it, the option to do so is there.

What I would see microsoft do, is add more and more fine granular controls into the system so that REAL DBAs can sink their teeth in and really get a server humming, but also add some kind of tuning service that tweaks it all for you unless you tell it not to. That way when a small application/product/project has no DBA specifically assigned to it I can still end up with a fairly high quality end product (and get my end of year profit sharing bonus!)