What are the compelling reasons to choose SQL Server 2008 over 2005?

Question

I'm investigating the possibility of upgrading our SQL Server from SQL Server 2000 to either 2005 or 2008. There's a lot of concern over whether or not 2008 is really ready for us to use because the database is so critical to our product. What are the compelling reasons to use 2008 over 2005? Have you had good or bad experiences with 2008? I'm particurally interested in query performance, new features for our queries, and stability.

Answer 1

One good reason--Backup Compression in SQL 2008. SQL 2008 has 3 options for backups:

In SQL 2008 there are 3 options while backing up databases, these are:

• No Compression (same as SQL 2005)
• Server Setting (if server backup compression setting is on/off - use this setting)
• Compression (Compress backup file during backup)

SQL 2008 backup with compression is generally faster than SQL 2005 backup without compression (less file i/o with a compressed file)

Edit: We've been using SQL 2008 for a while now and have had no problems. In fact, working with the new features in SQL Management Studio (such as intellisense) have made some tasks easier.

Answer 2

AS for new features, I have to point out the new spatial datatypes, geometry and geography, which basically allow you to add actual longitude / latitude points and even cooler, bind those points to a geometry.

i.e. imagine a map with zipcodes, the geography representing the center of the zipcode, and the geometry the are the zipcode covers. Then you could use the built in new function of sql server to determine if a customer for instance is in that are.

Edit P.S. here's a link to a series of articles describing benefits / new features:

What’s New in SQL Server 2008 Part 3