SQL Server 2012 has introduced some significant changes in services and features like availability options, Semantic Search, FileTables, ColumnStore indexes, to name a few. For a DBA or BI developer, it's a leap forward.

From a T-SQL developer's perspective, the ability to THROW and error from a CATCH block is nice to have, and I'm liking the CONCAT and CHOOSE functions, but 2012 is less of a game changer than 2005 or even 2008. It also depends on whether you're leveraging spacial or file related types in your data model.