Late Monday night (October 18, 2010), Microsoft released the latest Cumulative Updates for SQL Server 2005 and for SQL Server 2008 R2. You can get SQL Server 2005 SP3 Cumulative Update 12 and SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM Cumulative Update 4 by following the embedded links. SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 R2 seem to be on a synchronized CU release cycle, while SQL Server 2008 is not synchronized with the other two major releases.
Here is a “build chart” of the recent Build numbers for SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2. If you run SELECT @@VERSION, you will get your Build number, which you can use to determine where you are as far as Service Packs and Cumulative Updates are concerned. If you have a Build number that does not show up in my chart, that probably means you are on a hotfix build, most likely from Microsoft Update.
As you can see, for SQL Server 2005, you need to be on SP3, while for SQL Server 2008, you could be on SP1 or SP2. SQL Server 2008 SP2 has the same fixes that were included in SQL Server 2008 SP1 CU8. If you are on SP1 CU9 or CU10, you should wait for SP2 CU1 to come out before you apply SQL Server 2008 SP2.
-- SQL and OS Version information for current instance SELECT @@VERSION AS [SQL Server and OS Version Info]; -- SQL 2005 SP2 is now an "unsupported service pack" -- SQL 2005 SP2 Builds SQL 2005 SP3 Builds -- Build Description Build Description -- 3042 SP2 RTM 4035 SP3 RTM -- 3161 SP2 CU1 4207 SP3 CU1 -- 3175 SP2 CU2 4211 SP3 CU2 -- 3186 SP2 CU3 4220 SP3 CU3 -- 3200 SP2 CU4 4226 SP3 CU4 -- 3215 SP2 CU5 4230 SP3 CU5 -- 3228 SP2 CU6 4266 SP3 CU6 -- 3239 SP2 CU7 4273 SP3 CU7 -- 3257 SP2 CU8 4285 SP3 CU8 -- 3282 SP2 CU9 4294 SP3 CU9 -- 3294 SP2 CU10 4305 SP3 CU10 -- 3301 SP2 CU11 4309 SP3 CU11 -- 3315 SP2 CU12 4311 SP3 CU12 -- 3325 SP2 CU13 -- 3328 SP2 CU14 -- 3330 SP2 CU15 -- 3355 SP2 CU16 -- 3356 SP2 CU17 -- SP2 Branch is "retired" -- SQL Server 2008 RTM is considered an "unsupported service pack" as of April 13, 2010 -- SQL Server 2008 RTM Builds SQL Server 2008 SP1 Builds SQL Server 2008 SP2 Builds -- Build Description Build Description Build Description -- 1600 Gold RTM -- 1763 RTM CU1 -- 1779 RTM CU2 -- 1787 RTM CU3 --> 2531 SP1 RTM -- 1798 RTM CU4 --> 2710 SP1 CU1 -- 1806 RTM CU5 --> 2714 SP1 CU2 -- 1812 RTM CU6 --> 2723 SP1 CU3 -- 1818 RTM CU7 --> 2734 SP1 CU4 -- 1823 RTM CU8 --> 2746 SP1 CU5 -- 1828 RTM CU9 --> 2757 SP1 CU6 -- 1835 RTM CU10 --> 2766 SP1 CU7 -- RTM Branch Retired --> 2775 SP1 CU8 --> 4000 SP2 RTM -- 2789 SP1 CU9 -- 2799 SP1 CU10 -- SQL Server 2008 R2 Builds -- Build Description -- 10.50.1092 August 2009 CTP2 -- 10.50.1352 November 2009 CTP3 -- 10.50.1450 Release Candidate -- 10.50.1600 RTM -- 10.50.1702 RTM CU1 -- 10.50.1720 RTM CU2 -- 10.50.1734 RTM CU3 -- 10.50.1746 RTM CU4