"rlg" <rgreene@icanmarine.com> wrote in message
news:1131993597.442750.264250@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Good day,
>
> I was just reading the minimum requirements for the SQL Server 2005
> versions and was floored to discover that SQL Express will not run on
> Windows 2000 Professional
> (http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/sysreqs.mspx). Could
> this be a typo?!?!?
>
> SQL Server 2005 Workgroup and Standard are both supported on Windows
> 2000 Professional, so this appears to be a commercial (rather than
> technical) decision.
>
> Our products run only on Windows. However, we cannot use the most
> current Microsoft development tool to build a solution that will run on
> all current versions of Windows! Does Microsoft expect ISVs to help
> them force Windows upgrades on users? We won't be the ones telling our
> customers that their 3 year old PCs need to be upgraded...
>
> A couple of things make this situation even more annoying. Windows
> 2000 Professional IS a supported development platform for Visual Studio
> 2005. And Windows 2000 Professional WAS a supported deployment
> platform for SQL Express beta 2. I know it was a beta program, but it
> did include a Go Live license for SQL Express, so some customers would
> have already had SQL Express running on 2000 Pro. And we based our
> tentative product plans around the capabilities we saw in the beta!
>
> I'd like to know where Microsoft's vision on this lies. What database
> system is recommended for developers of widely distributed, standalone,
> packaged applications?
>
> This is the first time I've made a forum/newsgroup post while hoping I
> have it all wrong!
>
> Thanks...
>