Kari Suresh (7/5/2010)
[p]This query returns count as 20 when executing against "master" DB (excluding '\' ASCII character number 92) and returns 21 when executing with other databases.[/p]
As I mentioned above, that's almost certainly because your master database is in compatibility level 80 (SQL 2000), while your other databases are in compatibility level 90 or 100 (SQL 2005 or 2008).
Do check and let me know.
Duncan