Time to start thinking about, and providing feedback on, what you’ll need to upgrade to Denali (aka next version of SQL Server)

Aaron Bertrand - SQL Server v.Next (Denali) : OS compatibility & upgrade support

“Microsoft's Manageability PPM Dan Jones has asked for our feedback on their proposed list of supported operating systems and upgrade paths for the next version of SQL Server. (See the original post). This has generated all kinds of spirited debates on twitter, in protected mailing lists, and in private e-mail. If you're going to be involved in moving to Denali, you should be aware of these proposals and stay on top of the discussion until the results are in. (The media are starting to pick up on this as well, but don't be too afraid of hyper-sensationalized articles like this one.)

Operating System Compatibility

Dan has stated that they plan to support the following operating systems for Denali (and that setup would block on unsupported operating systems):

• Windows Vista SP2+
• Windows Server 2008 SP2+
• Windows 7 SP1+
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1+

…

Upgrade Paths

In the past, the upgrade paths from one version of SQL Server to another have always been expressed in terms of absolute version - yes, you can upgrade from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2008; yes, you can upgrade from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 R2. Now we have something slightly different, at least as well as I can remember --- upgrade paths to Denali don't just require a specific version, they require a specific version at a specific service pack level. Here is the preliminary list from Dan:

…

…”

We’re not that far away from the shipping of the next major version of SQL Server. There’s a number of interesting features coming, which you might like to get into production sooner than later. Which means upgrading. It doesn’t hurt to start looking at your existing infrastructure and being thinking about your upgrade paths (i.e. if you’re running Windows Server 2003 or SQL Server 2000 you have some work ahead of you…)