[RESOLVED] MSDE same as using MDB?

[szlamany]

You know the bottom line here is really all about getting the new SQL 2005 functionality - I am only allowed to dream about it right now, as the only SQL 2005 box I work with is a development server in my office here

I've got one or two customers saying they might upgrade soon

The differences are incredible in many ways - we have a sticky at the top of the DB section of the forum here with SQL 2005 features - I've got about a half-dozen more that I've learned about is MS webinars last week that I'm going to ask Si to post there...

[ober0330]

What if I don't need all the new functionality? I just need a very simple data storage tool that isn't Access.

*sigh*... I just hate the idea of installing all that upgrade stuff on the PCs I'll be using for this project. What a headache.

[szlamany]

Then why are they 2 different products? Seems kind of ridiculous.

Besides, why should I install SQL Server Express when it requires .NET 2, MSXML6 and XP SP2 to even function? MSDE works without all those requirements and I get the same basic functionality!

Some people would say that having XP SP2 on all XP machines was a requirement - regardless of applications running on the machine.

And the argument about the FRAMEWORK can go on and on (and has raged in threads on the forums here over the past few months).

MSDE will probably work on a machine right-out-of-install. Or you might discover MDAC issues and then upgrade MDAC on that machine and kill some other app that uses MDAC.

SSX might have more stringent pre-requisites - but those are probably in place to make the SSX install more guaranteed and less prone to interfere with other installs...

In the end it is your choice.

[ober0330]

True. And that's probably all correct. It's just that the PCs I'm setting up are in a very tight/controlled environment and they run very expensive test software and I'd like to keep the configuration changes to a minimum.

[Dave Sell]

I have found MSDE straightforward to delpoy and very high-performance for my high-intensity logging. XP has the MDAC stuff built in, so my applications that make use of it work swimmingly on XP systems.

I use COM Objects and applications built with VB6, no .NET stuff.

[ober0330]

And I think that's why I'll be using MSDE. I'm not going to create the hassle that would be involved with installing SSX.

I really do appreciate all the input though (from both of you), it's been invaluable.

[Dave Sell]

Especially consider if you already have access to SQL Server 2000's client tools, then you have practically everything SSX has to offer, minus several install headaches.

I would have to be severely agitated or forcibly coerced to be properly motivated to use SSX instead of MSDE... Then again I am pretty well-known for living in the past...

[ober0330]

I guess I'm just trying to avoid a beefy process in the background along with having IT come out and take care of all the updates.