MySQL Officially Declared Microsoft SQL Server Compeditor
I have been a huge fan of MySQL for a long time. It is the perfect database for when the budget is tight or you are not working in a Microsoft Environment. It performs well, and has a huge following of dedicated professional programmers that use it day in and day out on some of the largest websites on the planet. Most noteable Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Digg. Even with all these proven capabilities to scale and perform, Microsoft has choosen to ignore it and focus on some of the monolytic providers of databases such as IBM and Oracle when comparing SQL Server.
However that has all changed with the release of Microsoft SQL Server 2008. Microsoft has set its focus on MySQL. This is a huge turning point for both companies, because it means Microsoft is starting to take the needs of the Web 2.0 crowd, which MySQL has dominated, just as seriously as the big iron installs they have always catered to.
I am not sure if this comparison has been spured by the purchase of MySQL by Sun Microsystems, or if Microsoft has started to feel the preasure from Web 2.0 MySQL installs, or a little of both. But none-the-less this is very encouraging, because it means that Microsoft is finally taking the needs of the “cloud developers” seriously.
Tags: Cloud Developers, Microsoft, MySQL, SQL Server, Sun Microsystems
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August 10th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
MySQL Officially Declared Microsoft SQL Server Compeditor…
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August 11th, 2008 at 8:47 am
All that Microsoft has done is put together a marketing page that tries to compare SQL Server with MySQL. I fail to see how they have taken the needs of the Web 2.0 crowd.
You might be able to argue that releasing the Express Editions of SQL Server (2005 and soon 2008) is targeting MySQL in some way shape or form, but SQL Server 2008 is still targeting the monolytic providers of databases such as IBM and Oracle.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
For the first point I said _starting_ to take the Web 2.0 crowd seriously. To understand this you have to understand how marketing works in large corporations. Right now Microsoft SQL Server has an eye on the Web 2.0 market and one of the first steps they can make is to start comparing them selves to the market leader. Namely MySQL.
You are actually doing MySQL a disservice by comparing it to SQL Express. Because SQL Express is a free, limited, small-time, SQL engine, that has most of the capabilities of its big brother, but not enough to be used in major production environments. Is that really what you want to compare MySQL too? Plus this ad wasn’t to downplay and demerit MySQL in the eyes of MS SQL users, it was to elevate MS SQL in the eyes of MySQL users.
Plus as an added bonus comparing MySQL to SQL Server 2008 not only elevates MySQL in the eyes of the monolithic providers, but it also elevates SQL Server 2008 in eyes of the “cloud developers”. Because this is going to force MySQL to respond, and in that response they are giving creditability to MS SQL. It is actually a brilliant move and will probably help both companies in areas they have been lacking.