Microsoft does it again. Just when you thought you were completely confused about Microsoft virtualization licensing, they do it again. Remember when Microsoft announced their virtualization license policy for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition? You know, the one where if you purchased the Datacenter Edition of Windows, you could basically run an unlimited number of Windows operating systems wit Microsoft does it again. Just when you thought you were completely confused about Microsoft virtualization licensing, they do it again. Remember when Microsoft announced their virtualization license policy for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition? You know, the one where if you purchased the Datacenter Edition of Windows, you could basically run an unlimited number of Windows operating systems within virtual machines running on that host server. Now, Microsoft announced a similar change to their SQL Server 2005 SP2 licensing. According to Microsoft’s official press announcement:Microsoft Corp. today released Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2, an update to its award-winning data management and analysis platform. Customers can now take advantage of enhancements in the familiar and easy-to-use Windows Vista operating system and 2007 Microsoft Office system to easily connect and integrate with the power, security and reliability of SQL Server 2005. In addition, Microsoft announced that it is expanding virtualization use rights to allow unlimited virtual instances on servers that are fully licensed for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition. For customers who want maximum flexibility in their use of virtualization technology, now or in the future, SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition is the ideal choice.So if you are a Windows shop, Microsoft is making it quite attractive for you to go out and purchase one really large, powerful server, then install Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition and then virtualize all of your Windows servers. And now, if you run SQL Server, purchase one SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition license, and you can run an unlimited amount of virtual instances of the application as well.It definitely makes you rethink your server architecture when you consider the license cost savings. Software Development