Introducing the Next Wave of Microsoft SQL Server
SQL Server 2012 will provide Mission Critical Confidence with greater uptime, blazing-fast performance and enhanced security features for mission critical workloads; Breakthrough Insight with managed self-service data exploration and stunning interactive data visualizations capabilities; Cloud On Your Own Terms by enabling the creation and extension of solutions across on-premises and public cloud.
What’s New
Microsoft recently announced a major new release of the world's most widely deployed database platform: Microsoft SQL Server 2012. This release represents significant enhancements and innovations helping our customers take advantage of big data, cloud computing and mission critical features with favorable TCO.
As part of the SQL Server 2012 release, we have simplified our product lineup down to three main editions: SQL Server 2012 Enterprise, SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence and SQL Server 2012 Standard.
In addition, Microsoft is updating the licensing model for SQL Server. The updates to the licensing model reflect trends in the database industry and technology shifts - such as virtualization, private cloud and public cloud computing. Microsoft is also increasing prices to reflect the significant new features and capabilities in SQL Server 2012. Even when you take into account both licensing and pricing changes - SQL Server remains the industry's most affordable enterprise ready database platform.