Overview
SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is backward compatible, and it is always recommended to use the latest version even if you are connecting to older versions of SQL Server such as SQL Server 2008.
Explanation
At the time of writing this tutorial, SSMS 18.4 was the latest release in November 2019, and we will be using this version in this tutorial. Version 18.4 will work with SQL Server 2008 through SQL Server 2019.
Also, it is fine to have slightly older versions, such as 17.X, since these later versions support a lot of the newer features and also support Azure SQL database. If possible, it is always best to use the latest version.
To find the version in SSMS, select menu items Help > About and the following will open.
Haroon Ashraf’s deep interest in logic and reasoning at an early age of his academic career paved his path to become a data professional.
He holds BSc (Gold Medal) and MSc Degrees in Computer Science and also received the OPF merit award.
His programming career began in 2006 working on his first data venture to migrate and rewrite a public sector database driven examination system from IBM AS400 (DB2) to SQL Server 2000 using VB 6.0 and Classic ASP along with developing reports and archiving many years of data.
His work and interest revolves around Business Intelligence and Database Centric Architectures and his expertise include database and reports design, development, testing, implementation and migration.
He has recently earned “Knowledge Management and Big Data in Business” certificate from The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong.
- MSSQLTips Awards: Trendsetter (25+ tips) – 2020 | Author of the Year Contender – 2018-2020
