SQL Server, Microsoft's flagship operational database, has been around for over a quarter century now. That has meant successive waves of innovation for the platform, but has also made for ...

If you’re like many small business owners, the news that Microsoft is weeks away from the release of a new version of SQL Server 2008 could seem utterly irrelevant to your interests. But it isn’t.

SQL Server 2008 R2, which ships this month, allows end users to tap into the powerful business intelligence features of SQL Server via tight integration with popular Microsoft applications like Excel.