Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 RC0 to the general public. RC0 is the last release before RTM which will be available during Q3 of this year, according to SQL Server Director of Product Management Francois Ajenstat. SQL Server 2008 RC0 was initially made available to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers a week earlier.
SQL Server 2008 RC0 comes in the following editions: Enterprise, Standard, Evaluation, and Express. The first two editions require a product key entered during the installation, key which is provided on the download page. Before installation it is highly recommended to read the ReadMe and the "Before You Install" section of the Release Notes and Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008 on MSDN.
The following updates are necessary before using Visual Studio with SQL Server 2008 RC0:
- For Visual Studio 2005, install Visual Studio 2005 Support for SQL Server 2008 RC0.
- For Visual Studio 2008, install Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 Beta.
- For Visual Studio 2008 with SQL Server 2008 RC0 Express, download and install Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition with SP1 Beta .
Microsoft has also made available SQL Server 2008 Books Online Release Candidate (RC0). Books Online is the main documentation source for SQL Server 2008 containing the following information:
- Setup and upgrade instructions.
- Information about new features and backward compatibility.
- Conceptual descriptions of the technologies and features in SQL Server 2008.
- Procedural topics describing how to use the various features in SQL Server 2008.
- Tutorials that guide you through common tasks.
- Reference documentation for the graphical tools, command prompt utilities, programming languages, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that are supported by SQL Server 2008.
- Descriptions of the sample databases and applications that are available with SQL Server 2008.
Books Online needs .NET Framework 2.0 to be installed on the system and SP1 for Vista if installed on Windows Vista. Other supported operating systems are: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP Service Pack 2. A special Microsoft Connect site has been created for SQL Server 2008 containing the latest information about the product.