Microsoft has made its new SQL Server 2008 database software available for public evaluation via a free download from the company's Web site.

With SQL Server 2008, Microsoft is adding a number of features to improve scalability. New capabilities include support for policy-based management, auditing, large-scale data warehousing, geospatial data and advanced reporting and analysis services, the company said. Another new feature, Resource Governor, eases management of concurrent workloads by controlling applications' CPU and memory usage.

"SQL Server 2008 is the only major database that includes comprehensive, tightly integrated functionality for data management as well as advanced business intelligence out of the box," said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of Microsoft's data and strategic platform division.

According to Microsoft, SQL is the only database management system capable of delivering scalable results on TPC-E, the Transaction Processing Performance Council’s (TPC) newest and most challenging online transaction processing (OLTP) benchmark.

Microsoft plans to offer SQL Server 2008 in several different formats, including versions specifically designed for developers, web servers, workgroups and a mobile version known as SQL Server Compact.

The 180-day trial version is available for download from Microsoft. SQL Server 2008 Express and SQL Server Compact editions are also available for free download from the vendor. Microsoft has said pricing for SQL Server will not increase with the new release.