Josh,
I was researching the different methods of upgrading to SQL Server 2005. The question I ended up writing (poorly, much to my embarrassment) came from the "SQL Server 2005 Upgrade Technical Reference Guide". which can be found at:
This is a downloadable Word document.
From Page 17/360:
Versions
For an in-place upgrade, SQL Server 2005's Setup program will require that you have certain versions of either SQL Server 2000 or 7.0. Specifically, you can use the in-place method provided by SQL Server 2005 Setup to directly upgrade the following versions:
•SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later
•SQL Server 2000 SP3, SP4, or later
•SQL Server 2005 RTM or later
If you migrate the databases yourself by using a side-by-side upgrade method, you can upgrade earlier versions of SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 7.0. (SQL Server 6.5 databases and instances cannot be directly upgraded and must be manually upgraded.)
The overall goal of the QOD was to let others know about the existence of the SQL Server 2005 Upgrade Technical Reference Guide so that they can better prepare for upgrades to SQL Server 2005.
Missions Accomplished!
(Just not how I anticipated it coming to fruition.)
"Key"
MCITP: DBA, MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, OCP