SQL Server 2005 SP3 is here!

Alas! the one we are waiting for all this while is out for download. This service pack SQL Server 2005 SP3 has consolidation of all the CU packages and fixes.

What has improved, quoted from “What’s New in SQL Server 2005 SP3″ is on DB Engine, Notification services, Replication and Reporting services.

Check this link on what has improved, and download the SP3 from here.

BTW, please don’t apply the service packs on the production or any application critical environments. Try it on some sandbox to watch the behavior, test it and deploy it in appropriate environments.

Cheers!

Yipee, time for testing again!

SQL Server 2005 SP3 CTP version is out. You will want to download  a copy for yourself here.

However, let me caution you guys don’t try this on your production boxes. Ideally, you will want to download, run it against a sandbox environment, test the stuff you are looking for, (and test, and test), get all the stakeholders in your shop understand on the changes that would be available in the RTM and then plan for deployment in production (of course again after testing)!. Somehow, I love this word “testing”.

To quickly quench your curiousity here are the areas which is addressed in this service pack – Database Engine, Notification Services, Replication and Reporting services. Try it for yourself, and let me also know what did you find.

Happy reading and testing.