As you probably know already, earlier this month at the PASS Summit in Seattle, Microsoft has announced the official name for the next release of SQL Server, formerly code named “Denali”.

“SQL Server 2012 delivers a powerful new set of capabilities for mission-critical workloads, business intelligence and hybrid IT across traditional datacenters and private and public clouds. Features such as Power View (formerly Project “Crescent,”) and SQL Server Data Tools (formerly “Juneau”) expand the self-service BI capabilities delivered with PowerPivot, and provide an integrated development environment for SQL Server developers. The new ColumnStore Index delivers over 10x data warehouse performance gains. Due out in the first half of 2012, SQL Server 2012 is in the final production stages, with hundreds of customers going into production in CTP3, including Edgenet Inc., Sanofi Pasteur SA, Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA, Pilot Travel Centers LLC and Great Western Bank.”

I’ve been playing around with it since the early versions and I have to admit that in this case, the fuss about the new version is justified. Huge amounts of resources have been spent on this release which is considered by many to be a breakthrough even bigger than SQL Server 2005 was to its predecessor. There are already many articles on the web describing its new features and functionality, many blog posts and discussions on various aspects of this exciting new release.

If you haven’t yet tried it out – go to the CTP 3 Download page and see for yourself what the excitement is all about.

In the following weeks, I will cover some of aspects that I find most exciting about SQL Server 2012.

Cheers,

Ami