SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is a free, easy-to-use, and robust database engine that is ideal for building data-driven applications and Web sites.

Important Note: Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) will not be supported on the Microsoft Vista operating system. If you plan to build an application and redistribute a database with it, you should consider using SQL Server 2005 Express Edition instead. For more information, see the Running SQL Server on Windows Vista page on microsoft.com.

SQL Server Express InfoCenters

InfoCenters are navigation topics in the SQL Server 2005 Books Online that link to the information that is most important for people working with SQL Server Express in different roles.

Getting Started

Find SQL Server 2005 Express Edition overviews, system requirements, installation instructions, and more.

Planning and Architecture

Use these articles and whitepapers to better understand SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and how to use it to provide a data storage solution for your applications.

Development

Find the information developers require to build SQL Server 2005 Express Edition databases and then enable their applications and Web sites to work with those databases.

Deployment

Plan for the deployment of your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition databases and data-based applications and Web sites.

Security and Protection

Help protect your SQL Server 2005 Express databases from malicious attacks and improve the security of your data.

Operations

Learn about SQL Server 2005 Express Edition administration and operations tasks such as backup and restore.

Technical Reference

Find the tools, language, and administration programming reference documentation for SQL Server 2005 Express.

Additional Resources

Learn and explore more.

SQL Server Express eNewsletter

View this page on MSDN