>Hi,
>
>I am trying to decide if it makes more sense to download a free copy of the SQL Server 2008 Express or pay $50 for SQL Server 2008 Developer's edition. I will be using this copy for development of a new application (actually conversion of VFP app to SQL Server). Also I have an in-house (my company) VFP application with SQL Server 2005 Development edition database that I use every day (which gives me a good testing grounds). So I will be converting the SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 and run it every day kind of sort of as a production copy. The size of the database is very small and I am the only one using it. The money ($50) is not that important but if Express edition will work just as well as Development edition it is ok too.
>
>TIA.

As Craig said, Developer Edition is not for production use.

It is great for internal development and familiarization with all the SQL Server tools (including BI and SSIS).

SQL Express is licensed for production use and includes all the basic database features of SQL Server, and you can add reporting services and a manager (not full featured) for free as well. They've upped the max Database size to 10GIG - if you don't see a need for something bigger then Express can work fine.

Developer is cheap enough to get just for the tools IMHO.