Microsoft’s latest free database offering geared to the home and small business user is SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. It replaces Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE), which was based on Windows 2000 technology. This edition is designed on the same robust engine as SQL Server 2005. Before installation of this edition, you must install the latest Windows Installer and the .NET 2.0 Framework.

The minimum hardware requirements are a 600-MHz Pentium III-compatible processor and 192 megabytes (MB) of RAM. Supported operating systems include Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP4 and Windows XP SP2 or later.

The express edition is very similar to the full version of SQL Server 2005. In fact, there are very few differences between the two. The express edition supports only a single processor and databases are limited to a maximum size of 4 GB. The buffer pool is also limited to 1 GB of memory.

One of the welcome features in this version is the removal of the workload throttle from the previous version that limited concurrent database connections to five. The optional SQL Server 2005 Management Studio can also be installed which provides a GUI environment to design, query and administer the databases. A direct upgrade path to SQL Server 2005 is also available if needed.

With this version, it is very easy to create full featured databases that integrate seamlessly into Visual Studio 2005. Licensing is free for personal or business use with the express edition. Unless someone needs a high-end enterprise class database, the free version should handle most needs.