Hi John,

I spent a little time going thru the info on the MS site about MSDE. Your right, it is basically SQL Server Lite. They are trying to position it as a free Data Engine to use for Demo apps, not a back-end solution. If you have an app that connects to a SQL back-end you can create a version that uses MSDE and distribute it to end-users (w/o SQL) to use. Later SQL will install over MSDE and the app doesn't have to be changed.

It doesn't work for my situtation, the 5 connection optimization could be a problem, but I ordered the CD anyway. It comes with a SQL 7.0 Developer edition for $8.

>Hi Al ---
>
>MSDE is, essentially, SQL Server Lite. And it has a limit of 5 users with reasonable response. So, what we have here is a great little db engine to prototype client/server stuff for SQL Server on, but also something that is so limited that it is far beneath even the basic DBF engine in capabilities.
>
>See what I mean? :-)
>
>
>>>MSDE is a POS....it' nothing more that a good prototyping database for SQL Server and as something for VB folks to distribute with tiny, brain-dead apps.
>>
>>Hi John,
>>
>>I've never used MSDE and I know very little about it, so it's not as if you're slagging my favourite tool. OTOH, I'd be interested in hearing how you reached this conclusion.