NullifyNetwork

The new version of MS SQL Server has a cut down version, like SQL Server 2000 had (MSDE) called SQL Server Express.

The restrictions on the new version are much more sensible for deployments, as rather than being limited to a predefined amount of work they're limited to storage space and hopefully clients are not likely to set up >4GB datasets of work data without being able to afford to buy a full copy of SQL Server.

The big plus though, is that you can have a .NET assembly work INSIDE your database as if it were a stored procedure, this offers major advantages - ie - a trigger can now send an MSN message or post to a web service.  And that's not touching the performance differences of code in .NET.

This is further differentiating MySQL and MS SQL, which is how I like things to be since both are excellent databases.

MySQL is the definitive victor in the price/ease of use arena for data warehousing and small applications whilst MS SQL server will be the victor in the performance/features arena for smart applications or where the data will be accessed from different systems (where stored procedures/.NET assemblies enable code reuse and advanced server side logic).