It's a big announcement from Microsoft that's only valid after 9:00am PST on September 14, 2005. Therefore we have to hold this content until then. But check back after 9. Since we're on Mountain time, this server is one hour ahead of Pacific time.
<% Dim StartDate, StartTime, strContent 'Set StartTime = "10:00 am" if 1=1 then strContent = "
The September CTP Is Available!!!
"
strContent = strContent & "
Being announced as this goes live, the next SQL Server CTP, the September 2005 one, is being released today and announced via a letter from Paul Flessner. Check out the PressPass at Microsoft and we'll be sure this link is updated as soon as possible.
"
strContent = strContent & "
We've timed this release to give you some feedback on what's happening and what we think. From what our advance notice told us, the September CTP, the last one before the RTM in November, is being released to the public today. It was on Betaplace yesterday and should be on MSDN by now as well.
"
strContent = strContent & "
The big news is the September CTP, which should be upgradeable from the June CTP without an uninstall. If my download finshes, you'll be reading a confirmation or a non-confirmation about this from my laptop 🙂
"
strContent = strContent & "
Update: I tried a couple of ways, but the setup for the Sept CTP says that I need to uninstall previous versions of SQL Server 2005 first. I'll continue working on this.
"
strContent = strContent & "
There are a couple of other items as well. The big one for many people is that the Visual Studio 2005 Release Candidate (RC) is compatible with the September CTP. There have been some issues with VS2005 and the SQL Server 2005 CTPs working together. We have a Tech Note out today
that talks about some of the issues one user had, but hopefully that's a thing of the past.
"
strContent = strContent & "
Another annoucement is that this CTP will come in a variety of languages. Good news for many of you not in the US or Japan. You can now get the next version of SQL Server in:
- English
- Japanese
- French
- German
- Chinese (Simplified and Traditional)
- Italian
- Spanish
- Korean
"
strContent = strContent & "
One slightly down note, especially after this was one of the really hot features that many people, including us here at SQLServerCentral.com, were looking forward to. Database Mirroring is being disabled in this CTP (including the trace flag) and the RTM. It can be enabled with a trace flag (1400), but is not being supported with the normal license. There will be a special go live license for certain customers on a case by case basis. This means that you could run database mirroring, but don't call PSS for support. Apparently they are having issues. If you really want to get this now, you'll need to contact your account rep or Microsoft and apply for the go-live license, which would mean they would provide support, but they'll probably limit what you can do with this feature. Not the best news, but I'd certainly have them get this one right and I don't want to see the product delayed for this one feature.
"
strContent = strContent & "
A couple other items that are less technical, but of interest. First, the CTP/Beta program for SQL Server is the largest ever for this product. No surprise there as the use of the product has grown tremendously. Over 300,000 copies (downloads and CDs) have been distributed. And there are 30 customers right now that are running SQL Server 2005 in their production environments. Microsoft internal IT has deployed it extensively as well with SAP, Siebel, and MS Expense running internally on SQL Server 2005. Millions of transactions in Microsoft's production infrastructure have already been run through SQL Server 2005.
"
strContent = strContent & "
A SQL Server 2000 announcement as well. Wintercorp completed a Top Ten survey of large databases, results announced today as well. SQL Server did well with 3 of the top 10 in OLTP and 2 in data warehousing across all platforms. There is a 19.5TB warehouse on SQL Server 2000 today, the largest on Windows.
"
strContent = strContent & "
The PASS Summit (Use the ""SSC"" source code) is less than two weeks away and it will be the last and best chance for you to get information on SQL Server 2005 before the RTM. Tons of the Microsoft team will be there, so start getting ready today.
"
response.write(strContent)
else
Response.Write("
It's a big announcement from Microsoft that's only valid after 9:00am PST on September 14, 2005. Therefore we have to hold this content until then. But check back after 9. Since we're on Mountain time, this server is one hour ahead of Pacific time.
")
Response.Write("
The Current Server Time is: " & Time & "
")
WaitTime = DateDiff("m", date(), "9/14/05 10:00")
'Response.Write("
You have " & WaitTime & " minutes before the announcement.
")
end if
%>