Microsoft dropped the price for MSSQL Developer edition from $499 to only $49. You can find it at some locations even cheaper. This is a great buy so anyone working on a Windows box has no excuse not to have MSSQL.
It’s also great for people on a production budget. While MSSQL Developer is only for developer use, it does include the client tools. That’s important because MSDE can be used in production but doesn’t include any client tools. You can use MSDE in production and buy MSSQL Developer for the client tools to manage your production box.
Cheapest we found MSSQL Develoepr for was a little over $42 here:
Picked this up from snowkitty on the forums here.
More info about developing for MSSQL and about MSDE here.
Quoting Frans ( longtime MSSQL developer ):
Microsoft, let me tell you: all your competitors offer their developer editions for FREE, even Oracle. MS announces a $49 pricetag for a developer database, and they get applause. What a weird world we live in…
There are a lot of developers in the world who do not have a lot of money but do know how to code (and are now working with free tools to write their .NET code). If MS truely wants to win the ‘war’ against Open Source and free tools, they should act better. But ok, it’s a start, that $49.- ..
Although it would be nice if all tools were free, I really don’t know how practical it is. So the Oracle tools are free, have you used them before? They are horrible, and I don’t think it will get any better as long as the tools are free. It’s really funny, if Oracle had good tools I can guarantee you that no one using Oracle for legitimate work would mind paying upwards of 1k for the tools.
As much as I do agree with you, having used Microsoft tools I have to say they are really well made. If you are working full-time in the field then the cost of the tools is not a big issue. For me I just want rock solid tools. The way I see it, we develop products for clients to use. These products are there to help them do their job better. Companies that develop software for developers are in the same boat. We have a problem and their software is there to solve it. If a product solves a problem better than another and will save me an hour every day, then I don’t mind paying for it.