Rizzo said that, while it's too early to say exactly which features will be turned off, core functionality features will be left on in order to ensure that getting the database running out of the box won't be a nightmare. "We don't want you to go to install it and find it won't work out of the box," he said.

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Microsoft engineers are also working to ensure that customers won't have to go through painful gyrations to turn on the turned-off features. "New functionality—extensions and things that make the server even better—we'll turn off by default, but we'll make it easy to turn those back on. We don't want customers to say, 'Hey, I like XYZ feature, but I have to go through this nightmare process to turn it on.'"

There are signs that the second beta of "Yukon" (which is the code name for Microsoft Corp.'s update of its SQL Server database), originally expected in late spring or early summer, is already well on its way.

While Beta 1 is a closed beta for past testers and certain customers only, Beta 2 will be public, and people interested in Yukon will be able to participate in Microsoft's Customer Preview Program.

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