>>>>I cannot use the latest SQL Server because some of my customers still use SQL Server 2008. So when I do any work, it has to be compatible with the customers.
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>>>Compatibility check is definately a candidate for VM. With todays HW and possible problems with OS and AV, your development environment perhaps as well ;-))
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>>Compatibility check, sure.
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>>Installing a whole VM just because SQL server flatly refuses to even consider having a backup in a format which could be readable by its previous version... well, ridiculous upon ridiculous. The only reason I run two versions of SQL server in parallel (yes you can and no it doesn't hurt) is the customers who have them.
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>Yes and no... Having parallel installs will make hosing the OS more painful. The ability to copy the whole backend of smaller customers WITH their possible registry SNAFUs is sometimes helpful, although I have to admit to banging my head on (fire)walls and running into IP traps in such cases regularly ;-)

We could sit over a couple of dark beers and offer each other a shoulder to cry on... and in the end still wouldn't know whose customers are more paranoid.

For instance, I have a little listener app which just watches for a certain type of events in one database, and then copies the relevant records to another database (from a different vendor, that's a kind of cooperative deal we have). Generally, the installation takes about 20 minutes, plus any number of hours to transfer the history, if customer wishes to. I had a few cases where those 20 minutes took between two and six months to complete. Waiting for someone who is allowed to know who's in charge of giving this particular permission, then next permission, then...