I was up on a ski lift on Tuesday, taking a holiday from work as I like to do in the winter when I got an email with this title: SQL Server 2012 Released to Manufacturing. There was nothing I could do from the ski lift, so I went on enjoying the rest of my day, planning to start my own download that evening.

On Wednesday the SQL Server 2012 Virtual Launch Event took place, with live talks and chats available throughout the day. It was great timing, with the RTM taking place the day before. There are a number of talks on various topics, keynotes, and chat sessions still up on the site until June 30, 2012. Go take a look at all the information and see about all the new features that are available in the next version of SQL Server.

I didn't attend the event because I had signed up for the Denver event on the SQL Server 2012 Special Ops Tour. A local, live event, with about 200 or so people coming to see a number of demos and talk abot SQL Server 2012. I prefer live events, and it was good to go chat for a couple hours with the local SQL Server professionals.

It's exciting to have a nice, new, shiny toy to play with in SQL Server 2012. I'm sure many of you don't have upgrades planned this year, but there are some cool enhancements to SQL Server in this release. I might encourage you to attend a virtual lab, or download the RTM evaluation version and try out some of the new features. You might find something that makes your job easier, or allows you to build something that gives your business a strategic advantage. You'll never know if you don't try, so build a VM and play with SQL Server 2012 sometime this year.