Microsoft has released a service pack 2 update for its SQL Server 2005 database.
The update delivers a number of enhancements that allow the database to more closely work with the recently released Office 2007 productivity suite.
In a second major change, Microsoft changed the licensing terms for the software, allowing users to run an unlimited number of virtual instances on servers that are fully licensed for the Enterprise Edition of the database.
The update among things allows for improved data mining from the Excel spreadsheet or Visio diagramming application and boosts performance for Excel 2007 and Excel Services.
The service pack also increases data compression rates for decimal data while improving overall performance.
The database offers administrators a better insight into the software's performance through a set of new performance reports for the free SQL Server Express Edition and SQL Server Compact Edition that is designed for use on mobile devices.