SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 Released

I'm happy to announce the release of SQL Server Compact - SP1 

This release includes several key features and bug fixes following up on the asks of our customers.

The new features in SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 are:

  • ADO.NET Entity Framework provider. The Entity Framework enables you to work with data in the form of domain-specific objects and properties, such as customers and customer addresses, without having to concern yourself with the underlying database tables and columns where this data is stored.
    • Support for the ADO.NET Entity Framework allows you to create flexible, strongly typed queries against the Entity Framework object context by using LINQ expressions and the LINQ standard query operators directly from the development environment.
  • Case-sensitive collations forthose C# folks that were allowed into the database <g>
  • Native 64bit support. No more locking your apps to WoW mode or Target = X86. And yes, we support a single version of your app that can privately deploy Compact 32 and 64 so your customers don't have to figure out whether they're running 32 or 64bit operating systems.

We'll have a KB article out soon that covers the rollup of bug fixes since RTM as well.

We're still waiting on the main landing/content pages to be updated, so for those of you too impatient, here's the download links directly:

August 7th update: Links updated to reflect download pages with 32bit and 64bit downloads, along with the localized versions

SQL Server Compact SP1 will be included in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 as well.  So, you won't need to download it separately like you did in Visual Studio 2005 SP1.  ...we've gotten better about integrating things for you...  These links are mostly for those that need SQL Server Compact SP1 for VS 2005 support, or those that can't install VS 2008 SP1 for some reason.  The Visual Studio 2008 SP1 setup is sooooo much better than VS 2005 SP1.

More posts to come, but just to answer the first Q&A:

Q: What .NET FX Versions does Sp1 Require:
A: Compact SP1 can be used with VS 2005, .NET FX 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 3.5 SP1.  When using the Entity Provider, you will need .NET FX 3.5 SP1 as this is where the entity framework ships.

Thanks, and as always, we welcome your feedback,

Steve and the rest of the SQL Server Compact team