SQL Server 2008 Samples are here!

SQL Server 2008 samples are now available at https://codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples.  That's our portal page to many different product and community projects on CodePlex with samples for SQL Server.  On the releases tab of the portal page you'll find installers for downloading all the code samples.  If you're looking for the sample databases for SQL Server 2008, you'll find the project at https://www.codeplex.com/MSFTDBProdSamples/.  Please look over the content on that page carefully before proceeding to the releases tab for the sample database project (or navigate to https://www.codeplex.com/MSFTDBProdSamples/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx) to download the sample databases and sample database scripts.  We have a lot of sample database installers and now zip files for those who have trouble with using the MSI based installers, or who would prefer to inspect the contents before installation.  The advantage of using the MSI based installers is that they place the files in an appropriate directory (by default), optionally create shortcuts, and optionally install the databases.  A change from SQL Server 2005 and early SQL Server 2008 CTPs is that we now install database backups which are then optionally restored rather than delivering MDF/LDF files which were attached.  The backups greatly simplify the deployment of some of the new, exciting features we've put into the v2008 AdventureWorks OLTP sample database which demonstrates cool new features only found in SQL Server 2008.  The v2005 sample databases are compatible with the versions we shipped with SQL Server 2005 which can be important if you are running a sample which hasn't been upgraded to use the new schemas we're shipping in the v2008 sample databases.  The v2005 and v2008 sample databases use different database names so you should be able to tell by looking at the USE statement in scripts or or the connection string in the sample as to which version of the sample database to use.  For example, the v2005 OLTP sample database is named AdventureWorks and the v2008 version of the sample database is named AdventureWorks2008.  You can install v2005 and v2008 side by side.  There are schema diagrams published which you can use to see the new schema designs.  Note that although the v2005 installers are schema compatible with the schemas we shipped for SQL Server 2005, they are not binary compatible.  The sample database installers for SQL Server 2005 are still available, and they are located at https://www.codeplex.com/MSFTDBProdSamples/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4004.  There is lots more to say about all the great community and product samples for SQL Server 2008.  More blog posts to come!