Yes. Now it’s official. Few days before May 14th this stuff was available for special groups (preferred customers, and MVP’s) and now is for everyone as Customer Technology Preview. Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 2008 R2 [build: 10.50.3720.0] Of course IS NOT for production environment. Is for preview, testing, observing and generally is for helping Microsoft producing final RTM version. This Service pack contains all updates. If You have SQL Server 2008 R2 environment, You can download, install, test and send feedback to Microsoft SQL Server Team. of course this package have few important solutions for earlier reported errors such as (based form Microsoft site):
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Reporting Services Charts Maybe Zoomed & Cropped
Customers using Reporting Services on Windows 7 may sometime find charts are zoomed in and cropped. To work around the issue some customers set ImageConsolidation to false.
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Batch Containing Alter Table not Cached
In certain situations with batch files containing the alter table command, the entire batch file is not cached.
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Collapsing Cells or Rows, If Hidden Render Incorrectly
Some customers who have hidden rows in their Reporting Services reports may have noticed rendering issues when cells or rows are collapsed. When writing a hidden row, the Style attribute is opened to write a height attribute. If the attribute is empty and the width should not be zero.
From my perspective this stuff have another one great feature: at the same time we can use all three parts: Service Pack 2 CTP for SQL Server 2008 R2 and Service Pack 2 CTP for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express and Service Pack 2 CTP for SQL Server 2008 R2 for Feature Pack. Lets look for all parts.
Service Pack 2 CTP for SQL Server 2008 R2
You can download editions for all platforms: IA64 (335MB), x86 (239MB) and x64 (350MB) and for all editions: Parallel Computing Edition, Datacenter Edition, Enterprise Edition and Developer Edition, Standard Edition, Web Edition, Workgroup Edition.
You will find links and explanations for download at THIS page.
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Service Pack 2 CTP for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express
If You use only Express Edition, You can also use all necessary update from this package, dedicated for all versions: SQL Server Express x64 (182MB) & x86 (161MB) & 32_x86 (140MB); SQL Server Express with Advanced Services x64 (1005MB) & x86 (891MB); SQL Server With Tools x64 (339MB) & x86 (316MB); SQL Management Studio x64 (188MB) & x86 (184MB). You should still remember about Limitations : SQL Server Express supports 1 physical processor, 1 GB memory, and 4 GB storage.
You will find links and explanations for download at THIS page.
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Service Pack 2 CTP for SQL Server 2008 R2 for Feature Pack.
And last but not only least, last and super interesting part is for all external features. What is Feature Pack? Is fantastic collection of stand-alone packages which provide additional value for SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. The list of features is very interesting, as usual:
Microsoft® SQL Server Report Builder 3.0 for Microsoft® SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 CTP
Report Builder 3.0 introduces additional visualizations including maps, sparklines and databars which can help produce new insights well beyond what can be achieved with standard tables and charts. The Report Part Gallery is also included in this release – taking self-service reporting to new heights by enabling users to re-use existing report parts as building blocks for creating new reports in a matter of minutes with a “grab and go” experience. Additionally, users will experience significant performance improvements with enhancements to the ability to use Report Builder in server mode. This allows for much faster report processing with caching of datasets on the report server when toggling between design and preview modes. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft® SharePoint® Technologies 2010
The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies 2010 allows you to integrate your reporting environment with SharePoint to experience the benefits of using the collaborative environment provided by SharePoint. Once you install the Reporting Services Add-in and configure your servers for integration, you can publish Reporting Services content to a SharePoint library and then view and manage those documents directly from a SharePoint site. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft® SharePoint® Technologies 2007
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies allows you to take advantage of new SQL Server 2008 report processing and management capabilities in SharePoint integrated mode. This version also includes Report Builder server mode, and the ability to launch Report Builder directly from a Report Server. The download provides a Report Viewer Web part, Web application pages, and support for using standard Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Services 2007. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® Connector 1.1 for SAP BW for SQL Server® 2008 R2
The Microsoft Connector for SAP BW is a set of managed components for transferring data to or from an SAP NetWeaver BW version 7.0 system. The component is designed to be used with the Enterprise and Developer editions of SQL Server 2008 R2 Integration Services. To install the component, run the platform-specific installer for x86, x64, or Itanium computers respectively. For more information see the Readme and the installation topic in the Help file. | Audience(s): Partner, Developer
Microsoft® System CLR Types for SQL Server® 2008 R2
The SQL Server System CLR Types package contains the components implementing the geometry, geography, and hierarchy id types in SQL Server 2008 R2. This component can be installed separately from the server to allow client applications to use these types outside of the server. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Remote Blob Store
The SQL Server Remote Blob Store is a method for storing blobs of unstructured data in an external Content Addressable data store. The component consists of a client-side DLL that is linked into a user application, as well as a set of stored procedures to be installed on SQL Server. Run the self-extracting download package to create an installation folder. The setup program contained there will install RBS on X86, X64, and Itanium-based computers. | Audience(s): Developer, DBA
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Upgrade Advisor
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Advisor analyzes instances of SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 in preparation for upgrading to SQL Server 2008 R2. Upgrade Advisor identifies feature and configuration changes that might affect your upgrade, and it provides links to documentation that describes each identified issue and how to resolve it.
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Native Client
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Native Client (SQL Server Native Client) is a single dynamic-link library (DLL) containing both the SQL OLE DB provider and SQL ODBC driver. It contains run-time support for applications using native-code APIs (ODBC, OLE DB and ADO) to connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, or 2008. SQL Server Native Client should be used to create new applications or enhance existing applications that need to take advantage of new SQL Server 2008 R2 features. This redistributable installer for SQL Server Native Client installs the client components needed during run time to take advantage of new SQL Server 2008 R2 features, and optionally installs the header files needed to develop an application that uses the SQL Server Native Client API. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Command Line Utilities
The SQLCMD utility allows users to connect to, send Transact-SQL batches from, and output rowset information from SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 instances. The bcp utility bulk copies data between an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and a data file in a user-specified format. The bcp utility can be used to import large numbers of new rows into SQL Server tables or to export data out of tables into data files. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® Service Broker External Activator for SQL Server® 2008 R2
The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Broker External Activator is an extension of the internal activation feature in SQL Server 2008 R2 that lets you move the logic for receiving and processing Service Broker messages from the Database Engine service to an application executable that runs outside SQL Server. By doing this, cpu-intensive or long-duration tasks can be offloaded out of SQL Server to an application executable, possibly in another computer. The application executable can also run under a different Windows account from the Database Engine process. This gives administrators additional control over the resources that the application can access. Run the self-extracting download package to create an installation folder. Read Books Online for more information. The single setup program will install the service on x86, x64, and IA64 computers. Read the documentation for more information. | Audience(s): Customer, Developer
Microsoft® Windows PowerShell Extensions for SQL Server® 2008 R2
The Microsoft Windows PowerShell Extensions for SQL Server2008 R2 includes a provider and a set of cmdlets that enable administrators and developers to build PowerShell scripts for managing instances of SQL Server. The SQL Server PowerShell Provider delivers a simple mechanism for navigating SQL Server instances that is similar to file system paths. PowerShell scripts can then use the SQL Server Management Objects to administer the instances. The SQL Server cmdlets support operations such as executing Transact-SQL scripts or evaluating SQL Server policies. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Shared Management Objects
The SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) is a .NET Framework object model that enables software developers to create client-side applications to manage and administer SQL Server objects and services. This object model will work with SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 ADOMD.NET
ADOMD.NET is a Microsoft .NET Framework object model that enables software developers to create client-side applications that browse metadata and query data stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services. ADOMD.NET is a Microsoft ADO.NET provider with enhancements for online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining. Note:The English ADOMD.NET setup package installs support for all SQL Server 2008 R2 languages. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® Analysis Services OLE DB Provider for Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2
The Analysis Services OLE DB Provider is a COM component that software developers can use to create client-side applications that browse metadata and query data stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services. This provider implements both the OLE DB specification and the specification’s extensions for online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Analysis Management Objects
Analysis Management Objects (AMO) is a .NET Framework object model that enables software developers to create client-side applications to manage and administer Analysis Services objects. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
Microsoft® Datamining Viewer Controls For Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008
The Data Mining Web Controls Library is a set of Microsoft Windows Forms controls that enable software developers to display data mining models created using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services in their client-side applications. The controls in this library display the patterns that are contained in Analysis Services mining models. | Audience(s): Customer, Partner, Developer
You will find links and explanations for download at THIS page.
AS ALWAYS: ENJOY!!!