There are few trends I often see in the industry, for example i) running servers on n-1 version ii) wait till SP1 to released to adopt the product.

Microsoft has recently released SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP4. CTP stands for Community Technology Preview and it is not the final version yet. The SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP release is available for testing purposes and use on non-production environments.

What’s new for SQL Server 2012 SP1:

• AlwaysOn Availability Group OS Upgrade:
• Selective XML Index
• FIX: DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS works with SELECT permission
• New dynamic function returns statistics properties
• SSMS Complete in Express
• SlipStream Full installation
• Business Intelligence Excel Update

You can download SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP4 from here. SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP4 feature pack is available for download from here.

Additionally, SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP Express is available to download as well from here. Note that SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP has SSMS as well.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

 

 

 

Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology