Hey Everyone,

I posted a bit of a rant on Microsoft's SQL Server forums after finding out they have no intention of releasing a bootstrapper for SQL Server 2008 R2. This means that in Visual Studio, there is no way to add R2 as a prerequisite when building an installation routine. Even Visual Studio 2010 only supports SQL Server 2008 SP1, since that was the version of SQL shipping at the time VS 2010 came out.

My rant is here: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqlsetupandupgrade/thread/15f5605c-d618-4641-818c-b87b414642ff

The moderator suggested I post this as feedback on both the Visual Studio and SQL Server feedback pages.

He has since said the more "Votes" this feedback gets, the more likely it will be looked at.

So, if you would be so kind, please vote. Looks like Microsoft might notice if we do!!

Visual Studio feedback:
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/586623/why-is-deploying-sql-server-2008-r2-with-vb-2010-sooooo-frustrating

SQL Server feedback:
https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/586624/why-is-deploying-sql-server-2008-r2-sooooo-frustrating

Original feedback where I found out they have no plans to provide a bootstrapper:
https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/560030/sql-server-express-2008-r2-bootstrapper-package?wa=wsignin1.0