What is SQL SERVER Express 2005 Edition? OR What is the difference between SQL SERVER Express 2005 and MSDE 2000?

 Posted by ArticlesMaint on 9/18/2009 | Category: Sql Server Interview questions | Views: 4460


Note: - Normally comparison is when the product is migrating from one version to other version. When SQL SERVER 7.0 was migrating to SQL 2000, asking differences was one of the favorite questions.


SQL SERVER Express edition is a scaled down version of SQL SERVER 2005 and the next evolution of MSDE.


Listed below are some major differences between them:



  • MSDE maximum database size is 2GB while SQL SERVER Express has around 4GB.

  • In terms of programming language support MSDE has only TSQL, but SQLSERVER Express has TSQL and .NET. In SQL SERVER Express 2005, you can write your stored procedures using .NET.

  • SQL SERVER Express does not have connection limitation, which MSDE had and was controlled through the workload governor.

  • There was no XCOPY support for MSDE, SQL SERVER Express has it.

  • DTS is not present in SQL SERVER express while MSDE has it.

  • SQL SERVER Express has reporting services while MSDE does not.

  • SQL SERVER Express has native XML support and MSDE does not.

Note: - Native XML support means now in SQL SERVER 2005:



  • You can create a field with data type XML.

  • You can provide SCHEMA to the SQL SERVER fields with XML data type.

  • You can use new XML manipulation techniques like XQUERY also called as XML QUERY.

There is a complete chapter on SQL SERVER XML Support, so till then this will suffice.


Summarizing: - The major difference is the database size (2 GB and 4 GB), support of .NET support in stored procedures and native support for XML. This much can convince the interviewer that you are clear about the differences.


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