SQL Server 2008 R2 Hits RTM

Microsoft announced today that the latest version of its database server, SQL Server 2008 R2, has reached the "release to manufacturing" (RTM) milestone: SQL Server 2008 R2 has been released to manufacturing as of this morning at 7:30 am PDT via live teleconference conducted by Ted Kummert, senior vice president of the Business Platform Division and Tom Casey, general manager of Microsoft Business Intelligence. Customers can expect availability in the next few weeks through Microsoft's distribution channels. SQL Server 2008 R2 showcases a continued commitment to mission-critical workloads, providing a trusted scalable platform, increased developer and IT efficiency and managed self-service BI. Some of the capabilities that customers and partners will benefit from include: PowerPivot, a managed self-service analysis solution that empowers end users to access, analyze and share data across the enterprise in an IT managed environment using Excel 2010 and SharePoint Sever 2010. Master Data Services (MDS) an 'any domain' hub that helps organizations standardize and streamline the business data used enterprise-wide. Application and Multi-server Management, SMP scale up with support for up to 256 logical processors. Report Builder 3.0 with support for geospatial visualization. StreamInsight, a low latency complex event processing platform. The customer engagement in the development process of SQL Server 2008 R2 was outstanding, with more than300,000 downloads of the technology previews. Furthermore, more than 2,000 global ISVs are delivering applications worldwide. For more info on the SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM, please visit the SQL Server Team Blog.