December 29, 2009 at 11:53 am
Hello,
This may be an obvious question but why is SQL Server Express free to download. In my experience there's no such thing as a free lunch, why would MS be giving software away for free?
Cheers
Phil
December 29, 2009 at 12:01 pm
It's a bit of several things.
1. it's a teaser product. Some things are limited (no job agent, etc...) so it can be enough to get you into the product and want more (so you end up buying a "real" version).
2. I think they've been looking at pushing it instead of JET (i.e. access solutions. It allows them to give .NET developers a data solution for light-volume apps that can be packaged without requiring a server to deploy, and doesn't require sub-licensing, etc....
3. It's an alternative to open-source type DB engines (advantage/pervasive/etc...). In a way - by giving someone a cheap/free version away, you can keep some from looking at OTHER open-source items (i.e. reduce erosion).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
December 29, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Microsoft gives an immense amount of software away for free.
Just a couple of examples: the express versions of SQL Server and Visual Studio and all the Windows Live apps, Virtual PC and Virtual Server. There's far more.
Idea is to get students/amateur developers using the product (in the case of SQL or visual studio) so that they're familiar with it and would recommend it for future work (instead of letting them start with MySQL for example). The basic products are free, but when you want scalability, performance, etc, you then upgrade and buy a licence.
MS is far from the only ones. You can go and download Oracle Enterprise database engine and use it for development without paying anything (at least you could a year ago). When you want it in production, then you pay.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply