Steve Jones - Editor (2/14/2010)
You can just delay the application and plan on it for Q4 if time is tight.
Yes, I have some decisions to make there. I have set some targets and lined some resources up so its going to be difficult to push it back on the basis of a waiting for a service pack.
I do think SP3 is very, very stable. However if I had to call for support now and someone wanted me to patch up, I would be wary of applying a series of CUs to my systems that weren't necessarily well tested in the community and by MS. Having them roll up the CUs, give them a good testing and put them out to the community isn't a bad thing is it?
there have been a lot of CUs since SP3 so a final wrap up SP4 to sign off SQL2005 is a good thing for the vast majority of sites, it gives a definitive point to build 2005 installations to, it just does not suit me personally. SP3 is very stable and I expect no problems with my 2005 servers after this length of time so SP4 buys us nothing. Should something come up I would apply the SP4 but I doubt it will. I am not convinced the effort and outages involved in another SP rollout are worth it, BUT, if we do get caught out and I haven't applied the latest SP, well, I won't have a leg to stand on, so I will probably end up having to apply it just because the potential impact of not doing so is high, even though the risks of not applying it are extremely small.
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