Thanks for joining me for a full room and a boatload of quick-delivered SQL 2017 information in the second timeslot today at SQLSaturday Houston 2018! Lots of great questions, especially about adoption of SQL Server 2017.
Quick recap of this answer question: outside of a third-party vendor's support, there is no good reason to upgrade to SQL 2014 or SQL 2016 instead of SQL Server 2017. As of this week, 2017 has been patched eight times. In fact, because of the new options available to deal with rare issues with the Cardinality Estimator changes in SQL Server 2014, it's easier to upgrade to SQL Server 2017. Unfortunately, software vendors don't always respond to new SQL Servers to "certify" and "support" their software on new versions of SQL Server, or, they use support for new versions of SQL Server hostage along with new versions of their own software. This isn't cool, and to be clear, there isn't any technical reason to go with SQL 2014 or SQL 2016 as opposed to SQL 2017.
It's awesome to see so many great (and new!) sponsors at these events, helping keep alive the spirit of free community tech training. Be sure to thank sponsors and volunteers for making a day like this happen, trust me, it's appreciated!
Download of my slidedeck is available here and has been uploaded to the SQLSaturday Houston 2018 schedule site.
 |
| Thanks to light-up lanyards, the attendees could track me in the dark |