Well....  It was that time again.  Antoher CTP, Another Install.....

It went rather well on my VPC.  Actually, the WinXP updates took longer to install than SQL Server.  I had used the differencing disk option to create a new machine from a base “WinXP” install from last summer. Needless to say that I need to create a new base VPC “WinXP” machine soon.

Perhaps it was just me, but the interface seemed to run a little faster this time around once I pulled up the SSMS interface.  One thing that I was happy to see was the Database Diagrams that were put back in.  I had heard that they were coming back.  I did not get a chance to play with them yet, but a friend of mine stated that they were very basic.   Nonetheless, I am happy to see it back inthe product.  It helps to teach concepts and also to analyze the structure of the data.  I know that there are plenty of third party tool options, but some sites do not have those products installed.  The lack of a visual diagram can add to the time it takes to analyze certain databases.  From a consulting point of view, any tool in your arsenal helps.  After I play with it a little, I'll blog about my thoughts on it.