Microsoft has announced a release of two new SQL Server service packs; SQL Server 2008 SP2 will be out in the third quarter of 2010, while SQL Server 2005 SP4 will see the light in the fourth quarter of 2010

The MSDN Blog reports that the SQL Server 2005 service pack release is due to the “current support volume as well as the fact that SQL Server 2005 will enter into extended support on 4/13/2011.” However, it also mentions that there were an overwhelming number of requests for another service pack for 2005 as well; therefore, despite SQL Server 2008 being out for over a year and a half now (it was originally released in August of 2008), a significant percentage of users are still using the 2005 edition. php|a was unable to find any official usage statistics comparing the two releases, but Microsoft obviously considers the 2005 usage great enough to warrant a fourth service pack.

Are sluggish IT spending trends preventing people from upgrading to 2008, or are there just not enough new business-critical features in 2008 to convince people that it’s worth the time and effort to switch? A few months after 2008‘s release, unofficial performance testing showed no real performance gain in it; however, Visual Studio 2008 will not support SQL Server 2005 projects, so that may encourage upgrading to SQL Server 2008.