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SQL Server 2008 Books Online (February 2008)
Comparing SQL Server Express with MSDE
[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

If you are updating your applications to use Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition (SQL Server Express), you must consider the changes in feature support from MSDE to SQL Server Express.

The following table lists the limits that have been set for MSDE and SQL Server Express databases.

Limitation MSDE Limit SQL Server Express Limit

Concurrent workload governor (throttle)

Yes

No

Database size limitation

2 GB

4 GB

RAM support

2 GB

1 GB

SMP support

2 (or 1 if MSDE is run on Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition)

1
Note:
In MSDE, the Workload Governor (also known as the throttle) caused performance limitations as the number of concurrent users increased. SQL Server Express does not have a Workload Governor.

The following table lists the changes in feature support between the products.

Feature Area Supported in MSDE? Supported in SQL Server Express?

Merge Replication

Yes

Yes, as a Subscriber only

Transactional Replication

Yes, as a Subscriber only

Yes, as a Subscriber only

Snapshot Replication

Yes

Yes, as a Subscriber only

SQL Server Profiler

No

Yes only if another edition of SQL Server is installed on the same computer as SQL Server Express.

Note:
SQL Server Profiler is not installed with SQL Server Express.

Database Engine Tuning Wizard

No

No

SQL Server Agent

Yes

No

Active Directory registration

No

Yes

For more information about MSDE and SQL Server Express, see Upgrading MSDE to SQL Server Express at MSDN library.

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