After a number of delays, Microsoft on Monday launched long-awaited updates to its flagship database programs and developer tools.
CEO Steve Ballmer officially launched SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005, along with a new beta version of the company’s BizTalk Server software, at an event at the Moscone West convention center here.
Ballmer said that the new versions represent major advances, but acknowledged they were “a little bit long in coming.” It’s been five years, for example, since Microsoft released the last version of SQL Server.
“At least a little more rapid cycle time would be appropriate,” Ballmer said.
In addition to the standard products, Microsoft announced a free “express” or stripped-down, version of SQL Server and a $49 express version of Visual Studio. Oracle last week said it was making a free, limited version of its database available.
Microsoft also introduced a Workgroup edition of its SQL Server product for small businesses, which costs $3,899 per processor.
The Standard Edition of SQL Server went up in price from $4,999 per processor to $5,999, and its Enterprise Edition price remains the same at $24,999 per processor.
Alongside the main Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft introduced a high-end edition called Team System, which is aimed at groups of programmers, testers and architects. Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite starts at $10,939 and is used with server software components that range in price from about $500 to $5,000.
Microsoft said late last month that it had wrapped up development on the products.
PCL Constructors, an Edmonton, Ontario-based construction company, used the new database and developer tools to build a system for managing documents across desktop computers throughout North America. The system allows the documents to be stored primarily on the desktop rather than on a central server, with only the changes being sent across the network.
“We’re hoping to get good performance without having to put servers everywhere,” said Gerry Salm, a systems and technology manager at PCL.
An executive at Avanade, the consulting firm that helped PCL build its system, said that the new programs have a lot to offer, but said that the five years it took Microsoft to upgrade SQL is too long for companies to have to wait for some services.
“Eighteen to 24 months seems about right to our customers,” said Larry Barnes, Avanade’s enterprise collaboration practice director. “That syncs up with what Microsoft and the SQL team is looking for the future. A lot of our customers feel comfortable with that.”
