Microsoft has released SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 3, which the company says includes performance, scalability and diagnostics workload improvements.

On Monday, CTP test versions of SP3 were made available at the Microsoft Download Center for the first time. The new SQL Server 2008 SP3 CTP can be downloaded here.

Here's how Microsoft's support article expressed the matter: If you are running the Standard, Web, or Express edition of SQL Server, and you are using some new features that are unlocked only when you ...

The new SQL Server 2008 SP3 Express edition CTP (32-bit and 64-bit) can be downloaded here. The Express edition is free to use, but Microsoft only recommends it for supporting smaller server and ...