Last week I asked you to write about SQL Server 2025 and what things you might be looking forward to in the new version.
First, as usual, is Rob Farley. He has an advantage, being in Australia, so his day starts earlier than most. His post this month is on string matching, and he is sad that Master Data Services is leaving in 2025. I’m not sure many people used it, but I also don’t know it was worth removing. However, there are new functions for fuzzy string matching, which are some options for helping with data quality.
Chad write about something I’ve been asking Microsoft about for years. We are finally getting a Standard Edition version of Developer Edition. Chad writes in more detail about this and how to install it.
Deborah writes about two features: optimized locking and ADR. Performance is always on the mind of most people who work with databases, and these two features should help improve performance.
Andy has written on a few AI things in SQL Server 2025, so I expected more. However, I got an AG enhancement I wasn’t aware of that is coming.
Rob in New Zealand writes about security changes in SQL Server 2025, but also notes that the Copilot Integration in SSMS 22 is really what he is looking forward to working with.
My own post was on the backup changes, letting me backup on all replicas.
Louis writes about regex. I was expecting more people to choose this, but glad Louis did.
Glad to see a few people participating. If I missed you, please send me a note with the link.
Voice of the DBA 
Steve – so what exactly is the difference between this new fuzzy string matching and just using regular expression’s to do the same? As one who has to contend with a lot of what I call dirty data (data that has non visible charter it should not, typoes, ect) I can appreciate this fuzzy string stuff but I don’t see how it’s different from regular expressions.
LikeLike
Haven’t dug in enough. It’s on my list. I’ve been doing some of the RegEx experimentation, and will look towards the string matching soon
LikeLike
I have to admit there wasn’t a huge amount of stuff that was really exciting this time around, though SQL Standard Developer should have made that list. Native JSON support looked interesting, but the more I read, the less useful it really seemed. 😦
LikeLike
I think the JSON stuff will be more useful over time, especially as more developers will want to write to the db with an object.
LikeLike
Pingback: T-SQL Tuesday 192 Round-Up – Curated SQL