Well, it's not like I spent the entire time doing nothing but researching XML...  I started out hearing about XML and its wonerous benefits.  Unfortunately nothing I read dealt with...

I assume that they are using 2000, however, with 2005 right around the corner, it is prudent to think about it and plan accordingly.

Well, at least you have (hopefully) have an understanding that your actions can have huge consequenses, and will exercise appropriate caution. 

Unfortunately, this is a familiar situation for SQL Server. ...

...and will not work with SQL 2005...

This depends on many factors.  How "Real-time" do the reports need to be?  What is the typical usage pattern for your transaction processing?  200000 records a day doesn't really tell...

In order for them to create objects owned by dbo they need to be in the db_owners group and prefix the names of all objects with dbo.

DTS won't change ownership...

If the application has hardcoded connection strings, then you're out of luck...

Fortunately, most apps (at least if they are written by competent developers) make use of some sort of dynamic...

Someone, maybe even you, changed permissions for your login.  Do you have anyone else who administers, or who has access to that server?  If the default setup hasn't changed, anyone...

If the data types are not the same you can't declare a fk constraint, so he can't have a fk on the table.

If the ISNUMERIC test reports that all the data is, in fact, numeric, you should be able to just issue an alter statement in Query Analyzer, like the following:

ALTER TABLE TableName

ALTER COLUMN...

It might be a DNS issue.  Can you PING the server using its name?

sp_attach_single_file_db

No, SQL Server 2000 does not enforce any kind of policy on SQL account passwords.  I didn't have the pleasure of dealing with an actual audit, but our compliance dept...

Are you the interviewer or the interviewee?

Glad I could help.  Just for future reference, Oracle does not automatically keep statistics up to date (unless they have changed that in 10...)  So if you have large loads...