Something About SQL Server

      SQL Server 2012 is the latest version of a database server product that has been evolving since the late 1980's. Microsoft SQL Server originated at Sybase SQL Server in1987. In 1988, Microsoft, Sybase, and Aston-Tate ported the product to OS/2. Later Aston-Tate dropped out of the SQL Server development picture, and Microsoft and Sybase signed a co-development agreement to port SQL Server to Windows NT. The co-development effort cumulated in the release of SQL Server 4.0 for Windows NT. After the 4.0 release, Microsoft and Sybase split on the development of SQL Server, Microsoft continued forward with future targeted on Windows NT platform while Sybase moved ahead with releases targeted for the UNIX platform, which they still market today. SQL Server 6.0 was the first release of SQL Server that was developed completely by Microsoft, In 1996, Microsoft updated SQL Server with the 6.5 release. After a 2 year development cycle Microsoft released the vastly updated SQL Server 7.0 release in 1998.
           SQL Server embodied many radical changes in the underlying storage and database engine technology used in SQL Server, SQL Server 2000, the accumulation of another 2 year effort, was released in September,2000. The move from SQL Server 7.0 to SQL Server 2000 was more than an evolutionary move that dint entail the same kind of massive  changes that were made in the move from 6.5 to 7.0. Instead, SQL Server 2000 was build incrementally on the new code base that was established in 7.0 release. Starting with SQL Server 2000, Microsoft began releasing updates to the basic release of SQL Server in the following year starting with XML for SQL server web release 1, which added several XML features including the ability to receive the result set  as an SQL document.
             The next year they renamed the web release to the more succinctly title SQLXML 2.0, which among other thing added the ability to update the SQL Server database using XML updategrams. This was quickly followed by the SQLXML 3.0 web release which included the ability to expose stored procedures as web services. 2 years later, Microsoft SQL Server release history accumulates with the release of SQL Server 2005. SQL Server 2005 uses the same basic architecture that was established with SQL Server7 and it adds to this all the features introduced with SQL Server 2000.

The following timeline summarizes the developmental history of SQL Server

• 1987 Sybase releases SQL Server for UNIX.
• 1988 Microsoft, Sybase and Aston-Tate port SQL Server to OS/2
• 1989 Microsoft, Sybase and Aston-Tate release SQL Server 1.0 for OS/2
• 1990 SQL Server 1.1 is released with support for Windows 3.0 clients.                           Aston-Tate drops out of SQL Server development.
• 1991 Microsoft and IBM end join development of OS/2.
• 1992 Microsoft SQL Server 4.2 for 16 bit O/S 2 1.3 is released.
• 1992 Microsoft and Sybase port SQL Server to windows NT.
• 1993 Windows NT 3.1 is released.
• 1993 Microsoft and Sybase release version 4.2 of SQL Server for windows NT.
• 1994 Microsoft and Sybase code development of SQL Server officially ends. Microsoft continues to develop the Windows version of SQL Server. Sybase continues to develop the UNIX version of SQL Server.
• 1995 Microsoft releases version 6.0 of SQL Server.     
• 1996 Microsoft releases version 6.5 of SQL Server.    
• 1998 Microsoft releases version 7.0 of SQL Server. 
• 2000 Microsoft releases SQL Server 2000
• 2001 Microsoft releases XML for  SQL Server web release 1.  
• 2002 Microsoft releases SQLXML 2.0 ( renamed from XML for  SQL Server).
• 2002 Microsoft releases SQLXML 3.0.
• 2005  Microsoft releases SQL Server 2005 on November 7th,2005.
• 2008 Microsoft releases SQL Server 2008 on August 6th,2008.
• 2012  Microsoft releases SQL Server 2012 on March 7th,2012.